From the Ashes
by XCharlotteLeighX
Summary: What if, when the war goes terribly wrong, Harry has enough? He seeks out Voldemort for one last stand. A suicide mission. But since when does Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, life go to plan? So why would his death be any different... A/U! TimeTravel! Dark/Grey!Harry FemMOD!Harry
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** **Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)**

 **A/N** **The first chapter of my rewrite, a drastic change from the beginning of the original story I tell you! Hopefully this will turn out better than it did originally, let me know your thoughts?**

 **.:Text:. =** Parseltongue  
 _Itallics_ = Spells

 **From Shadow**

Harry Potter, once known throughout the whole of Magical Britain as the boy who lived, sat alone in a large, empty room. If somebody had told him at the age of seventeen that this would be where he spent the vast majority of his current life, he would have laughed at them and had them sent to St Mungo's. For at this very moment, in the year 2015, he found himself seated at the head of the long table that once made up the section heads of the Order of the Phoenix; a Vigilante organisation set up by the late Albus Dumbledore during the Great Wizarding War of 1939-1945 to combat the threat of one Gellert Grindelwald. However, upon his defeat another dark wizard emerged eager to take his place as Dark Lord: A young man by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Over the years, he fashioned himself a new identity and became the most feared dark wizard of the age, and so the Order was recreated in order to combat this new threat.

However, this wizard was not to be so easily defeated: Since his first uprising began in the 1970's, Voldemort, as Tom Riddle became known, killed hundreds if not thousands of wizards and muggles in his quest for power. Now, Harry was all that remained between Voldemort, and his total control over magical Britain. The rest of the Order had been killed off over the years by the Dark Lord and his servants the Death Eaters, until there was only a handful of the senior members left. And so, to protect the resistance, the Order's leadership banded together, and sought a new headquarters, and so they found one. A location so crazy, that nobody believed Voldemort would ever think to attack it: Azkaban.

They had no idea how wrong they were.

Five years after they first arrived at the isle, one of the leaders, a battle hardened Neville Longbottom, was captured by the Dark Lord's forces and tortured until he revealed the location and names of each Order leader. Once Voldemort heard, he summoned his forces to his new base of power at the ruined Ministry of Magic, and launched an all out assault on Azkaban Isle. Hundreds of witches and wizards were killed that day, decimating the Death Eater ranks, but also all but wiping out the last of the resistance against Voldemort. The only man not to be killed that day, was the then 30 year old Harry Potter, who was out on a mission in the United States, attempting to find international aid to combat the dark wizard. When he arrived back at the ex-prison, he was met with the sight of his friends and colleagues bodies in various states of damage; from blissfully unblemished, to ripped into almost indiscernible pieces, it was a bloodbath.

From that day on, Harry Potter delved further into the dark arts than any except perhaps Voldemort and Morgana herself, looking for a way in which to end the Dark Lord's existence once and for all. Three years into his research, he discovered what he had been searching for: how Voldemort had maintained his life force even after being defeated at the Battle of Hogwarts. His research told him of a ritual that would change the effects of a horcrux, meaning that upon being destroyed they are simply transferred into the original hosts body once more. Using this, one who created enough horcruxes to fracture their soul so much that the regular method for reabsorbing the portions became impossible, would be able to continue to exist as a wraith-like being after death not dissimilar to the form caused by the horcruxes themselves. The being would then be able to regenerate over time until finally developing a corporeal body of its own once more.

Armed with this knowledge, he set about devising methods to totally obliterate what was left of the Dark Lord's form, searching for well over a year before once more having a eureka moment; something so impossibly crazy, that nobody would ever be able to try it. But Harry Potter is no regular person, and he no longer had anything to lose. So he began to plan his final mission, bring down Voldemort at all costs, and take down as many Death Eaters as he can with him.

After surveying the main hall of Castle Azkaban one last time, he disappeared without a sound, leaving no evidence that anybody had ever stepped inside the main hall after the prison first fell.

* * *

Reappearing in the once grand village of Little Hangleton, he stood and once more considered his life and all of the pain he had gone through, before his face set and his stance hardened.

Raising his holly and phoenix feather wand towards the sky, he muttered an incantation that had been seldom heard since the fall of the Ministry: ' _Morsmorde'_

And with a burst of light, a large spectral face appeared in the sky, a snake appearing from out of it's mouth and slithering around the sky.

He began to countdown in his head:

 _10  
9  
8  
7  
6  
5  
4  
3  
2  
1_

All at once, over a hundred pops and cracks could be heard as Death Eaters and Aurors alike apparated into the village to hunt for the one who dared to conjure their Lord's mark. Upon spotting the culprit, the lead Death Eater in the group called out.

'Harry Potter! The Minister of Magic has decreed that for crimes of High Treason, Murder, Theft, Terrorism and countless charges of other more minor crimes, you are to be executed on sight, do you have any last words?'

'Just two...' Harry called back ' _Avada Kedavra!'_

A green light left his wand and sailed towards the masked leader who simply summoned a lesser DE into it's path. 'Kill Him!' he cried.

At his words, it was as if somebody had flipped a switch and hundreds of curses of varying power and effect flew towards Harry. Instead of running or hiding as the small army had hoped, he simply raised his arms and created a golden magical shield that absorbed each and every curse thrown. The army looked on in shock as Harry dropped the shield and moved a stray strand of hair out of his face

'That the best you can do?!' With another wave of his wand, he summoned forth wave after wave of _Fiendfyre_ and sent it towards the large group. After only just two minutes, all that remained was a handful of Voldemort's most trained fighters who had managed to work together to prevent their deaths. As they regained awareness of their location, Harry began to walk towards them, batting away the curses that they sent at him as if they were flies. As he reached each one in turn, he flicked his wand at them and they fell to the ground, their internal organs frozen in place.

Upon reaching the leader, he halted. Deciding to have a little fun, he allowed the man to climb to his feet and bowed. Seeing what Harry was doing, the Death Eater also bowed before adopting a traditional pureblood stance. They both stood staring for a moment, before the leader swung his wand forward and let out a bone breaker curse aimed at Harry's arm. Harry simply pivoted out of the way before returning fire with his own entrails expelling hex.

'So it would appear you've changed Potter, who would have thought Dumbledore's golden boy would resort to using dark magic!' goaded the leader, as he flicked his wand forwards ' _Crucio!'_

'War changes everything, even an idiot knows that, although I wouldn't have expected it to change you this much old friend' replied Harry as we waved his wand at the still masked Death Eater, hurtling him backwards whilst causing his wand to fly out of his hand.

Before the Death Eater had even landed, Harry was walking towards him, both wands in hand. As he reached the fallen leader, he snapped the captured wand in half and threw it to the floor. 'Don't want you trying anything tricky now do we' Harry muttered.

He reached down, and pulled off the leader's mask, throwing it to the ground

'Now then Mr Wood, your arm if you will?'

Oliver Wood simply sat there and glared at him, crossing his arms as he did so.

'Very well' Harry sighed ' _Imperio!'_

Harry watched as the curse took hold and Wood's eyes glazed over 'I'll ask again, your arm, if you would?'

Wood presented his arm forward, Dark Mark revealed for all to see. Harry pressed his wand into the mark, summoning Voldemort to his location.

Within seconds a black cloud appeared, and when it dissipated it left behind the main target of Harry's assault: Dark Lord, and all around mass murderer Tom Riddle.

'At least we meet again Harry Potter' Hissed Tom 'It has been a while since I've had somebody worthy to duel against'

'Sorry to disappoint you Tom, but I'm not here to duel, I'm here to kill you, and yes, I've found a way to do so.'

'Try all you will Harry, we both know I will be victorious!'

 _ **.:Infernum:.**_

A ring of fire appeared around Voldemort and Harry, trapping them within

 _ **.:Aquis Sanctum:.**_

A dome of water caputured the fire within it and surrounded the air above the duo, as Voldemort stood, watching the magic occur with a glint of amazement in his crimson eyes

'What do you plan to achieve with this parselmagic Potter? It won't work against me!' Screamed Voldemort, firing a killing curse towards Harry who simply batted it away with the palm of his hand

'Impossible' he muttered, shocked at the display of power.

 _ **.:Interficio** **:.**_

And Harry began to float towards the centre of the dome, a golden light appeared around him, and radiated to fill the dome with it's glow. Then, suddenly the dome of water, ring of fire, and the two occupants were gone, leaving no trace of their existence other than a smoking crater, and ashes billowing in the wind.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** **Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)**

For the first time since he had first delved into the Dark Arts, Harry Potter was scared. His plan hadn't worked, he shouldn't be able to think or feel, and yet he could. This meant one of two things: either he messed up the spells or, the more likely outcome, the universe had decided he shouldn't be able to fix everything that easily, and messed up his plans for him.

As he opened his eyes, he was instantly blinded by the sheer brightness surrounding him. It was at this moment that he heard voices. Not just any voices, but voices he recognised.

Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks... Everybody he had known and befriended throughout his life was crowding round him, with the exception of the three people he really wanted to see... 'Where are they?' He wondered allowed

However before anybody could answer his question, they appeared. Dressed in simple white robes, the three figures materialised in a white light that rapidly faded. Before anybody had chance to utter a single word, Harry launched himself at the figures, holding on for dear life as tears began to stream down his face.

'Hush there Harry, everything is alright now, it's going to be okay, you're safe.' spoke a female voice.

'Your mother's right son, you did it, you saved the world...' added Harry's long dead father, James Potter.

'But at what cost Dad?' replied Harry

'Well, actually that is why we weren't here straight away when you woke up Prongslet. You've been given a choice to make, you can either stay here with your family and friends, or you can make things right.'

'What.. What are you saying Padfood..?'

'We want you to go back Harry... back to before the war, before Hogwarts, back to your childhood. We want you, to change history for the better and make sure everybody gets a fair go at life. Whatever it takes, you can do... We know you can do it Harry, but the question is, do you want to?'

'But, what about you guys, will I lose you? Will I ever see you again..?'

'From what we've learned, you will be able to use your magic to pull some of us back with you, and we'll simply take over the bodies of our past selves.'

At this Harry nodded, not thinking to ask where they had learned this, before he frowned 'But what about Mum and Dad? They don't have a past body to take over?'

'Well, I'm sure that by now you're familiar with the ritual Voldemort used to return to his corporeal form the first time? As I'm also sure you're aware of how much more potent that ritual would have been had he gone about it a bit differently?'

'I am, I'd always wondered why he chose to go through it in a way that would corrupt his body like that, but I guess it must have had something to do with him further corrupting his horcruxes aswell, because that definitely shouldn't have been possible.'

'Correct... Now, I know that you have delved deep into magics that most witches and wizards would never even dream of, and that you would do anything to see your family alive again. But are you sure that you would be willing to perform true Necromancy, and bring them back whole?'

'Like you said Padfoot, whatever it takes..'

As soon as he said this, his mother once again pulled him in tightly, cuddling him as hard as she could. 'Oh my poor baby' she whispered 'I know it's hard, but what you're about to do is a very brave thing, and we are all so proud of you. We'll be with you as soon as we can, and then we can finally be together as a family, a proper family' A single tear rolled down her cheek.

'Now son..' began James 'It's probably best to do this now, before you get too attached to anybody again. Long story short, the reason you are here right now and not dead, is that you are the Master of Death. That's not just some fancy title, it means you really do have the power over Death. It's the reason you're able to do this at all. Right, what you need to do, is concentrate your magic within you, and conjure a golden knife. Yes that'll do nicely!' He took the knife out of Harry's outstretched hand. 'Lily if you'd like to continue this, it was your planning and crafting that makes this work after all'

'Baby, what's going to happen, is everybody who is coming back with you will cut their hand with the knife, and paint a rune in the air. This will bind them to the charm. Once the five of us have done that, you will need to take the knife and do the same, creating the sixth point in the circle, and the portal frame will be complete. Next, you will need to stand within the rune circle, and let your magic flow into the six runes. Once you can feel yourself connected, look at them. They should all glow faintly. So if you would like to do that now?'

Harry drew the knife across the palm of his hand, without pain blood started to flow freely from the wound. 'How is it that we can bleed if we are already dead?' He pondered aloud

'It's not really blood' replied Sirius 'It's magic, in its purest form, it is what sustains our consciousness in this place between the realms of living and dead.'

'Oh' responded Harry dumbly 'Okay' He then proceeded to paint the final rune into the circle, following his mother's instruction to an incredible level of accuracy. He strode into the circle, and began to concentrate, feeling his magical core and allowing the power to flow out of him, and into the runes surrounding him. As he once more opened his eyes, the runes glowed with the faint shimmer of his magic.

'Okay now Harry, using runes as a magical stabiliser complicates the magic slightly. You could probably create a portal using pure intent right now, but thats not what we want. Reason being, you would have no control over when and where you ended up, and you could simply rip the time space continuum apart. Not a good plan. So what you're going to do, is focus on your arrival point, which I would advise to be a short while before you turned 11. Then, I want you to say an incantation that should focus your magic into a single act, _Foribus Vicis,_ does that make sense?'

'Perfect' replied Harry ' _Foribus Vicis!'_

With his words, a swirl of magic appeared on the outer edges of the runes, before twirling and swirling closer into the circle, eventually reaching Harry's motionless body, and rocketing upwards. The crowd of people watching this were blown backwards, all apart from the ones due to go back in time. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Lily and James were all held in suspense, motionless in time. As the whirlwind of magic began to disappear, so did the five. Until eventually, nothing remained.

A/N Second chapter done, a different variation on the time travel method I hope? Anyways, read and review if you like the story, or even if not, pass on your comments and any possible improvements you may have! Thanks =)


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

For the second time in recent events, Harry found himself surrounded by darkness. It was at that moment that he realised that he hadn't just been imagining his time between worlds again, it had really happened!  
He clicked his fingers, conjuring a ball of light in the centre of the small space he was in, when he realised he was once more unable to see properly. Reaching around for a few moments, he discovered his glasses on a shelf next to his 'bed' and placed them on. Gazing around, he took in the view of his old 'room' before the sending of his Hogwarts letters: The Cupboard under the Stairs. Stretching his arms up around his head, he was shocked when he grabbed a handful of long, thick hair in his hand. Pulling it over his shoulder he realised it was a dark red, almost brown colour tied back into a long ponytail. Shocked at his discovery, he then looked down to inspect the rest of his body for any other changes. It took a second, but he soon noticed he had a smaller frame then he remembered, with slightly widened hips and a distinct lack of body hair, that he definitely remembered starting to have at this age.

Before he had any more time to react, he jolted as he heard footsteps coming down from above him. He quickly waved his hand, dismissing the conjured light before hastily removing his glasses and once more lying down on his cot. Seconds later, the door to his 'room' was yanked open revealing the tall form of his Aunt Petunia 'Get out of bed and make yourself useful for a change' she scolded 'Make your uncle's and cousins' breakfasts!' With that she walked away, heading into the kitchen herself to turn the oven on before sitting down at the kitchen table. Harry picked up his glasses from where he placed them, and crawled out of the cramped space, having to concentrate on balancing in his new, smaller body.  
Upon standing up, he stretched once more before heading into the kitchen and retrieving a frying pan and some bacon rashers. After a few minutes he'd finished preparing his family's breakfast and decided to add a little magic to speed up his plans. Making sure nobody was looking, he waved his hand over the pan placing a magical paralysis curse on the meat. He placed the meat onto slices of bread and brought the sandwiches over to his family, who then began to wolf them down as he knew they would.

Moments later, they froze in what they were doing, stood up, and their bodies became rigid, trapping them where they stood.

'Girl!' rasped his Uncle

"Well that explains why everything feels so different" Harry thought, compartmentalising this new information to fret over at a later time, whilst simultaneously chiding himself for not noticing such a huge change right away

'What freakishness have you done to us?! I've told you about this, but I knew we were being too soft with you, I should have had you thrown into an orphanage the same day you arrived here you little bitch!'

'Now now Uncle' replied Harry darkly, his high pitched voice sounding alien to his ears 'I don't think you're in any position to threaten me. No, I do believe it would be in your best interests to answer my questions'

The three Dursleys whimpered in fear, dreading what was to come.

'First thing's first, why have you not told me the truth about my parents?'

'We were ordered not to!' Petunia almost screamed 'That old meddler Dumbledore forbade me from telling you, promised that I'd regret it if I did! Not that I would have anyway, it would make you feel special, as if you were better than the rest of us! You're not, you're just a freak!' she spat

'I see...' Pondered Harry 'I wonder why Dumbledore doesn't want me to know about who I really am yet... No matter, you see what I really need off of you would take me hours of questioning, No I don't really think I have time for that. It would be much easier to just take the information I need' Harry wandered over to Vernon, summoning a gust of air to knock him to his knees ' _Legillimens'_

Flashes of memory ran through Harry's head, before suddenly he was back in the Dursley kitchen with Vernon staring wide eyed at the wall ahead.

'What have you done to him!?' Cried Petunia

'A lot less than I should have' Harry growled 'For the way he has treated me over the years he deserves a lot worse than a simple migraine. Now it's only the fact that getting rid of you would make my life harder that is stopping me from just killing you all now. Alas, I shall have to keep you around for now to avoid questions.' Harry began pacing the kitchen 'Now then, how best to make sure you don't get in my way... Aha!'

Harry moved over to Vernon, and with a wave of his hand muttered ' _Obliviate'_ before once again diving into Vernon's mind, and replacing all of the new missing memories with false ones with no mention of himself. He then planted an idea to go on a months long holiday abroad, to give him the time he needed to complete his plans before leaving Privet Drive. Harry wandered over to both Petunia and Dudley in turn, repeating his actions before returning to the cupboard under the stairs.

With a grimace, he collected the rags he had to use for clothes, removed any items he could find use for, before vanishing the remains of his prison from the cupboard. He then returned to the kitchen, where the Dursleys were still trapped wide eyed. With a snap of his fingers, the paralysis wore off and the Dursleys began going about their day as if nothing had happened, nobody taking notice of the young girl who had just disappeared from sight with a shimmer.

Leaving the Durlseys to go about their day, Harry wandered through into the front room before silently disapparating.

* * *

A split second later, Harry reappeared just as silently outside of what appeared to be an old, rundown shack on the edge of a small village. He strode purposefully towards the near-collapsing building, slashing downwards with his hand as he neared the front door, sending out a pulse of magic destroying the protective wards surrounding the property. 'Huh' Harry muttered 'That was easy, wonder what ward breakers moan about, takes no time at all!'

He waved his hand towards the front door, blowing it off of its hinges and propelling it across the room behind it, setting off all of the curse traps he knew awaited him. After pausing a moment at the threshold, he edged into the room keeping an eye out for any traps he may have missed. Seeing none, he pointed his hand towards the floor and attempted to cast a reductor curse, however nothing happened. Frowning, he tried again a few more times, before kneeling on the floor and searching for a hidden door.

After a few minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for and opened it with a hissed / _Open_ / standing up as the door disappeared before him. He swiftly dropped into the knee high hole, and levitated the box he found in front of him. Tearing off a strip of clothing, he opened the box and removed the ring from within, wrapping it with the cloth. As he removed the ring, he felt a surge of magic that quickly formed into a corporeal shape: a chimera made of fiendfyre. His eyes widening, he quickly dropped the box and attempted to apparate out of the crumbling shack, however he couldn't. Becoming worried he spotted a stone on the floor, and concentrating on the location of the garden behind Dursley household, he flicked his hand towards the stone and muttered a quiet ' _portus'_ under his breath, nearly sighing with relief as the stone briefly glowed blue before returning to normal. He lunged towards the stone just as the chimera pounced upon him, barely making contact and escaping before he was to be killed.

He rematerialised moments later in a heap on the floor of the Dursley's garden, his left arm sleeve slightly singed from the fiendfyre he had been lucky to escape from. He lay there for a few minutes, breathing heavily and collecting his thoughts.

Suddenly, one thought in particular came to the forefront of his mind, and as he closed his eyes to comprehend everything that had happened since he woke up in this strange new past, he muttered to himself about the universe screwing him over yet again 'Fuck my life!' he uttered, breathing in deeply.

'Well I suppose this isn't the end of the world' Harry muttered 'Being female this time around shouldn't make too much difference I wouldn't think, I guess I could get used to this'

After another half an hour or so, Harry sat up and rubbed at his eyes. 'Well, if I'm going to be a girl, I need to go shopping!'

With that he jumped to his feet, and ran into the house, knowing that if he waited around long enough, his Hogwarts letter should be arriving today. Within minutes of going back inside, a letter appeared through the letterbox. Harry grabbed the letter, and ran straight back out to the back garden without giving the letter any more than a glance to confirm the Hogwarts seal. He quickly climbed the tree in the corner, nestling between two low branches and getting comfy, before looking down at the letter properly for the first time.

 _Miss Holly Jane Potter  
The Cupboard under the Stairs  
4, Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey _

'Bingo' Harry, now Holly, muttered as she tore open the letter and scanned the contents. "Exactly the same as last time" she thought, before disappearing from the tree without a sound.

She reappeared a moment later in an out of the way arch off the main street of Diagon Alley. Looking around to ensure she hadn't been spotted, she waved her hand over herself and transfigured her tattered clothes into a set of plain black robes, before setting off into the Alley proper. She walked meaningfully down the middle of the Alley, the throng of passersby seemingly being pushed away by an unseen force as she strode towards Gringotts. As she arrived at the bank, she couldn't help smiling as she looked up:

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_  
 _Of what awaits the sin of greed_  
 _For those who take, but do not earn,_  
 _Must pay most dearly in their turn._  
 _So if you seek beneath our floors_  
 _A treasure that was never yours,_  
 _Thief, you have been warned, beware_  
 _Of finding more than treasure there._

Striding past the security Goblins, she walked towards an empty desk, and before reaching it, bowed to the occupant. 'Greetings, Noble Goblin. My name is Holly Potter, and my family and I wish to do business with the Bank.'

The Goblin sneered at her. 'Are you really... And I suppose you have some sort of identification?'

At this Holly conjured a small knife, and pricked her finger with it, letting a single drop of blood leave her finger and drop down onto the near invisible plate she knew was located there. The Goblin raised his eyebrow slightly 'It would appear you are who you say... I presume you would wish to speak to your accounts manager?' At her nod, the Goblin clicked his fingers. Moments later, a second Goblin appeared, and escorted Holly down a tucked away corridor to her accountant's office.

* * *

Over an hour later, she left Gringotts looking slightly stunned.  
"I never realised just how well off Mum and Dad were!" Holly thought, "Well now I feel less guilty about all the shopping I need to do"

And so Holly set off down the alley once again, casting a subtle notice-me-not charm as she walked so as to avoid anybody realising who she was. First on the list was Olivanders, no use in wearing herself out with constant wandless magic she thought.

'Hello?' she called as she cancelled her enchantment entering the shop, just as dusty and cramped as she remembered. She jumped slightly when Ollivander seemed to appear in front of her from thin air

'Ah yes,' said . 'Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Miss Potter.' It wasn't a question. 'You have your father's family's eyes. It seems only yesterday he was in here herself, buying her first wand. Eleven inches long, pliable, made of mahogany. Nice wand for transfiguration.'

Mr Ollivander moved closer to Holly. Holly winced, those silvery eyes were still creepy, even to her 34 year old mind.

'Your mother, on the other hand, favoured a willow wand. Ten and a quarter inches. Swishy. A little less power but excellent for charms work. Well, I say your mother favoured it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.'

Mr Ollivander had come so close that he and Holly were almost nose to nose.

'And that's where ...'

Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on her forehead with a long, white finger. She forced herself not to repsond in reaction to the unwanted attention.

'I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it,' he said softly. 'Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands ... Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do ...'

'Right...' Replied Holly 'Could we move on please? Not to be rude, but I've a lot to do today, and time doesn't stop for anybody'

'Of course, Miss Potter, now which hand do you favour?'

'I'm right handed' she replied, eyes flicking around as she followed the various tape measures and equipment flying around her person, taking seemingly random measurements before once again settling down on the workstation.

'Right then, I think I have just the wand for you' Olivander said as he turned around to the many boxes of wands stacked on the shelves. Holly rolled her eyes, knowing this would take a while if her last experience was anything to go by.

'Okay, 7 and a half inches, willow, with a single unicorn tail hair strand' he passed her the wand, before quickly snatching it back 'No, no, not right at all, how about this one? 11 inches, Birch with a dragon heartstring core?'

She waved the wand, attempting a Lumos charm, causing the end to light ever so slightly before going out again 'Better than the last, but not quite... Hm, I wonder...' Olivander turned away and wandered to the back of the store. He returned with a box that Holly recognised, if not slightly smaller than she remembered.

'10 and a quarter inches, Holly and Phoenix feather, an unusual combination but...' as he handed her the wand, Holly felt a shockwave up her arm as her wand rejoined with her core, the magic inside her resonating with the core of the wand and releasing golden sparks from the end of her wand.

Mr Ollivander cried, 'Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well ... how curious ... how very curious ...'

He put Holly's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, 'Curious ... curious ...'

'Sorry,' said Holly, playing the innocent, nearly 11 year old girl 'but what's curious?'

Mr Ollivander fixed her with his pale stare.

'I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar.'

Holly swallowed, even after all these years Ollivander still gave her the creeps.

'Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember ... I think we must expect great things from you, Miss Potter ... After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great.'

Holly shuddered. She was sure she was still unnerved by Mr Ollivander even after everything else she had been through in the future . She paid seven gold Galleons for her wand and Mr Ollivander bowed her from his shop.

* * *

Now she had her wand, Holly hid in a shrouded alcove before pulling up the hood of her robes and waved her hand over her face to shroud it in shadow, then casting another, stronger, notice-me-not charm. Giving herself one last check over, she silently apparated into the main hall at Gringotts. She strode towards the goblin sat at the main desk, and upon meeting him, with an uttered _Imperio_ was being led towards the vault system, and to her next goal, Vault 713.

Upon reaching said vault, she had the goblin open the door, and picked up her prize: the Philosopher's Stone of legend. She held the stone in her hand for a moment and closed her eyes; as she opened up her other palm, an identical looking stone began to form, eventually growing to the same size as the original. She then wrapped the copy in the original's packaging, before placing the real stone in her pocket and leaving the vault.

Upon returning to the surface, Holly once again silently apparated, this time back to the hidden alcove. She removed the charm shrouding her face and, glancing around her surroundings, she briskly walked back into the main alley before continuing her shopping for Hogwarts. An hour or so later, she walked into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, to be met by a scene very familiar to herself: Before her stood Draco Malfoy, being sized up for his Hogwarts robes. Madame Malkin appeared and beckoned her over to the stool next to the boy.

'Hello, Hogwarts are you?' asked the blonde boy

'Yes' replied Holly

'Me too... Mother is down the street looking at wands, and father is next door buying my books. I think I'll drag them to look at Racing brooms once I'm done here.. In my opinion it's an utter travesty that first years aren't allowed their own brooms!' Draco drawled in a bored sounding voice

Holly was instantly reminded of how much of a pompous idiot Draco was before the War started

'Do you fly at all?' finished Draco

'I love flying, it's a great way to just clear your mind and have some fun, what Quidditch position do you play?' replied Holly

'I'm a chaser through and through to be honest with you, much more fast paced than the other positions and it's one of the most important, I don't think I'd like the pressure of being a seeker, it would be too easy for everybody to turn against you if you miss the snitch' said Draco

'I can see your reasoning there, although I prefer seeker myself, I'm not really interested in the other positions. You never introduced yourself by the way, my names Holly, Holly Potter... And I'd guess from the crest on your robe you're a Malfoy? Although I must confess, I am at a loss to your first name.' states Holly, reverting to the pureblood speech pattern Draco had instilled in her in her home timeline.

'Are you really? Well, I must say you're not at all what I expected, the names Draco by the way, I'm sure my father would be very pleased to meet you.'

'I would expect so, however it would appear that my robes are done, so I'll see you on the train?'

'Indeed you will, goodbye Holly'

'So long, Draco.'

Holly left the shop feeling slightly happier than when she entered, knowing she had laid the foundations for one of her greatest friendships from her past life. She made her way down the alley and past Ollivander's store. Passing Narcissa Malfoy on her way out, she made her way to the Apparition point of the alley, before disapparating the moment her back foot passed through the alley's wardline.

She reappeared in a shaded alleyway just down from the entrance to a new shopping centre that had just opened. She quickly transfigured her robes into a pair of jeans, top and jacket and headed inside, determined to pick up some real clothes that were more suited to her than the rags she had to keep transfiguring.

A/N Well guys, that's another chapter out now, with a slight twist in this one I'm sure not many were expecting! Feel free to leave any comments, and I'll see you next time! :)


	4. Chapter 3

A/N Anything you recognise, isn't mine. Anything you don't, should be :)

After a good few hours shopping, Holly found herself sat in the food court of the shopping centre, sipping on a drink and deciding what she wanted to eat from the various options available.

She suddenly realised, looking down at the bags by her feet, that she didn't actually have anywhere to store her new purchases, other than the trunk she had bought in Diagon Alley. Glancing around to make sure nobody was looking, she drew her wand under the table and quickly sent off a Patronus charm to Tonks, who she really hoped had managed to come back to the past with her as planned.

Within seconds, she noticed a small change in the energy around her and a moment later the familiar, if slightly younger, face of Tonks could be seen appearing from a shrouded corner, glancing around as if looking for somebody. As she passed by Holly's table, Holly grabbed her arm and span her into the seat opposite.

'Excuse me,' Tonks fumed 'Do I know you?!'

'Relax Tonks, I know I look bit different but surely you still recognise me?'

'Harry?' Tonks gasped 'You disguised yourself as a girl?'

'Not quite' Holly laughed 'Seems as though instead of going back in time like the spell should have done, we've all just been bumped into a separate timeline, where it turns out I was born a girl!'

'How weird... I thought you'd be more freaked out by that to be honest, it's a big change to what you're used to'

'Well, there's definitely a lot more shopping involved than I'm used to, other than that it's been okay so far' Holly laughed 'By the way, turns out the name is Holly, not Harry'

'Sure thing Holly, so, you not called Remus here too? Surprised he's not here already'

'Actually no, I haven't, I called you first because I had a favour to ask you. Obviously you've just graduated Hogwarts and got your own place, right?' At Tonks' nod she continued 'Well I could do with a place to stay, and until we get Sirius out of Azkaban we can't access Grimmauld Place, and using one of the Potter properties would alert everyone to me not being with Dursleys anymore'

'Yeah that makes sense, from the look of the place when I woke up, I've not long moved in and nobody knows where I live apart from Mum and Dad, so that shouldn't be an issue. You can use the spare room okay?'

'Thats great, thanks Tonks'

'No worries Holly, you ready to set off yet?'

'Actually, I'm only about half done' Admitted Holly, looking down at her feet 'That was actually the second reason I called for you rather than Remus... I could actually do with some help with the rest of my shopping, it seems I actually have no idea what to buy for myself as a girl'

Tonks laughed at the embarrassment showing on Holly's face 'Wow, I can't say I'm shocked, I think I would have been more surprised if you had managed this all on your own really, come on then, let's get you sorted'

With that Tonks grabbed Holly by the arm, and pulled her up. Grabbing a couple of the bags Holly had already managed to fill each, the girls headed off in the direction of more shops, determined to pick up as many things Holly could possibly need.

* * *

Hours later, the pair arrived back at Tonks' flat via a taxi, deciding to utilise Muggle transport as it was easier than attempting to apparate with over a dozen shopping bags each. Collapsing on the couch, Holly groaned, rubbing her sore arms.

'Who'd have known I would need to buy so much crap just to survive! I guess I never really appreciated how much effort you girls actually put into doing things guys take for granted, even showering seem like more effort for you!'

'Well that's the world you live in now hun, it has its ups and downs but I'm sure you'll make the most of it. Look at the plus side... the clothes are much more fun!' Tonks laughed

'That's very true Tonks' laughed Holly 'Got to be an upside to everything'

'So what else have you got planned then, or was shopping for clothes, shoes and toiletries all you could handle?' Tonks asked. Holly quickly filled her in with her actions, leaving Tonks sat slightly awestruck. 'So you're telling me, breaking through wards with no wand, destroying a horcrux and stealing from Gringotts you could do alone; but shopping, SHOPPING, was what you needed help with' Tonks dissolved into a fit of giggles 'Oh Holly, only you'

'Stop it!' Pouted Holly, slapping Tonks arm 'You try spending your whole life as one person, before waking up one day as a prepubescent in the opposite gender!'

'Hello! Metamorphmagus? I can literally change everything about myself if I wanted to, gender included. I know what it's like both ways girl, trust me' Tonks chuckled 'You think it's hard now, just wait until you start experiencing female puberty, shouldn't be long for you now, now that's the real fun part'

'Oh piss off Tonks, it's bad enough that I have to even go through that don't start taking the piss out of me for it' Holly frowned

'Language young lady!' Tonks managed to get out before erupting into even more laughs, Holly sat frowning even more.

Holly pulled out her wand, a mischievous gleam in her eye as she continued to look down, her now untied hair falling over her face. With a small twitch of her wrist, she sent out a silent tickling hex at Tonks, quickly running to the other side of the room and hiding behind a table to avoid the backlash. After a few seconds had passed she realised she needn't have worried, as Tonks was completely caught unawares by the charm and was too busy suffering a laughing fit to attempt any form of revenge. With a quick _Finite_ Tonks laughter eventually subsided, before she stood up and without a word, disapparated from where she stood and reappeared behind Holly, before once again disappearing and apparated into the spare bedroom. She quickly cast a body bind at Holly before leaving through the door and heading into the living room once more. Minutes later she returned, all of the shopping bags in tow, which she unceremoniously dropped onto the bed. With a wave of her wand, she locked the bedroom door, erected an anti-disapparition hex and removed the body bind from Holly.

'Right then missy, you think you can get away with something like that, now it's time for my fun. You're going to try on everything you bought today, and then put it away and organise all of your things in the wardrobe, understand? You want to act like a child, I'll treat you like one' Tonks poked her tongue out at Holly 'Plus you may as well get used to the fact that being a girl, means spending a lot of time with fashion. Whilst you may still think like a guy now, once those hormones start kicking in you'll have to cope with the same emotions and impulses any other girl does, so you may as well get started now!'

And with that followed around two hours of trying on different outfits, trying different styles of hair, pairing outfits with shoes, what goes with what and various other fashion related tasks. It was during the hair styling that Tonks and Holly discovered something new, that Holly definitely hadn't been able to do before.

'Right, as nice as your hair is in the shade of red you have, let's try a different colour' Stated Tonks, as she cast a quick colour dye spell on Holly's hair. The spell changed her hair colour to a dark black, similar to her original colour, before quickly fading back to the red it began as. 'Well that's weird' said Tonks 'Let's try another colour' She then recast the spell, this time dyeing her hair a light blonde colour, this too lasted a couple of seconds before fading.

'What's wrong Tonks? Should it not fade like that?'

'No, those charms are supposed to last weeks and fade out slowly like Muggle hair dye... Although I may have a possible explanation as to why they don't work on you. Stand up for me, and let your hair down naturally'

Holly did as asked, before suddenly Tonks ran her wand across her hair, cutting off a good six inch chunk of hair, leaving Holly stood staring in shock. Before she could even move to say a thing about what just happened, her hair regrew to it's original length, looking no different than before

'Aha!' exclaimed Tonks 'I should have known! You're a metamorph too!'

'What?!' asked Holly, confused 'How can that be? I was never one before, that I knew of, and that's not an ability that's in the Potter family.'

'Well there's no way to prove for certain, but it could be a number of things. It could be because my magic would have latched onto yours when we came back to this time, it could be because as a female you had a stronger link to the Black bloodline from your father's side? Who knows! Anyway, now that we know that, it'll make your life a lot easier, assuming people don't find out whilst you're at school. Trust me, that's a whole new headache you do NOT need.' Tonks shivered 'Okay, well I guess I know what we're doing for the rest of the day!'

The rest of the afternoon passed by in a blur for Holly, as Tonks went through the basic stages of how to control her metamorph skills. She was quick to point out however to only keep it to small cosmetic changes whilst she was this young, as if she went too far and messed up at a young age, it could affect her body's natural growth, as well as stunting her ability to change.

As the night closed in, they changed into some comfier clothes and moved back into the living room, sitting down in front of Tonks TV, whilst Tonks pulled out a takeaway menu and started to browse. 'So, what do you fancy eating then?' asked Tonks as she flicked the TV on with the remote, ignoring what came on in favour of deciding on food.

'I'm not really all that bothered to be honest, we can always split a pizza or something' replied Holly

Before Tonks could reply, she noticed what was playing on the TV screen, stunning her instantly. A split second Holly also noticed what was playing, slumping back into her chair in shock.

'Well, something is definitely weird in this timeline, because THAT definitely didn't happen before I went to Hogwarts' muttered Holly, showing on the screen was a BBC newscast showcasing the 2001 Brixton riots

'Looks like this timeline is a little more different than we first thought, eh Hol..?' said Tonks

'Yeah.. 10 years difference' Holly gulped 'and Hol?' she questioned

'Well y'know, friends can come up with nicknames you know' laughed Tonks, the tension in the room at this new discovery fading as she spoke 'Unless you're telling me we're not friends?' she gasped in mock horror.

'Piss off!' Holly laughed, throwing a pillow at her

* * *

The next morning, Holly woke up on the same sofa she had curled up on last night watching TV, looking around for Tonks, she decided it was best to go for a quick shower and freshen up.

After drying off, she threw on a new set of pyjamas and slippers and made her way into the kitchen. There she found Tonks trying to work out how to use her own Kitchen utensils. 'Ugh, move out of the way, douche, and let the pro show you how it's done' Holly laughed, pushing Tonks out of the way of the oven.

Within 10 minutes the pair were sat at the table enjoying a cup of tea and some toast.

'You know, I never did really learn how to cook before, not the muggle way at least ' Tonks admitted sheepishly

'Well, living with the Dursleys I had to, and then with the camping trip we took in 97, and living on the run when Voldemort came back the second time, I guess I just learned to cope with cooking however I could' replied Holly thoughtfully

Moments later, they heard a small pop just on the other side of the door, jumping to their feet they pulled out their wands and moved to either side of the entrance. As the intruder opened the door and walked in, they were instantly struck by a pale blue curse, hoisting them up into the air and spreading their arms and legs out in an X shape.

Shaking their hair out of their face, a familiar voice spoke 'Really now, surely you'd be able to recognise your own husband Dora?'

'What did we name our child together Remus, if that is who you truly are?' replied Tonks

'Teddy, after your father, of course' said Lupin. Tonks instantly dropped the charm holding him up and he dropped the few inches to the ground.

'And who might this young lady be?' enquired Lupin, glancing at Holly.

So the duo sat Remus down and explained everything that had happened so far, and what they knew about the situation they found themselves in.

'So you're really okay with this Harry?' asked Remus, looking concerned

'It's Holly now, Remus, and yeah, I am. I mean there's not really a lot I can do about it now anyway, so I may as well embrace and enjoy it.'

'Trust me Remus, as strange as it may seem at first, Holly's muscle memory means you wouldn't even be able to tell her mind was ever male. I mean, I've been speaking to her as if she was one of my girlfriends without even noticing half the time, and Holly seems to be okay with that too. As she said, we can't do anything but just live with it. She's still the same person she always has been, just, has longer hair, a curvier body and wears skirts from time to time. You won't even have to fight the guys off of her, because she's more than able to kick anyone's ass that tries anything. Same old person we know and love' Tonks beamed

'Well okay then' hesitated Lupin, before giving Holly a hug 'Well, it's good to see you in the flesh either way Holly, and I'm glad to see you and Tonks getting on so well'

'Well y'know, I thought with there not being too much of an age gap between us she'd want to help out, especially with all the stuff I'm clueless on, and we just kinda became friends I guess. It's nice' Holly smiled. Tonks proceeded to jump on her giving her a hug, resulting in both of them landing on the floor in a laughing heap.

'Tonks, chill out, I'm not as strong as I should be, and I'm still tiny for crying out loud, I can't support both of us you dolt!' Holly laughed 'Get off me, you douche!'

'Right, well, now that Remus is here and everything has been sorted between us three, how about bring back Lily and James, and getting Sirius free?' Tonks stated as she climbed back to her feet

'Sounds like a solid plan to me' confirmed Holly 'Now going off what happened when Voldemort used this ritual, I'm going to need a big, secluded area. Especially given the base I'm using isn't what it is supposed to be. We don't know what side effects might come up, and I can't be dealing with collateral damage this early on. If you could meet me in the Little Hangleton graveyard in an hour, I'll set up the site if you can both get me a few things. We need a single bone from each of their fathers, and a vial of blood from an enemy for each of them. Shouldn't be too hard, the bones are easy, if questionable, to obtain and the blood can be taken from any Death Eater, just remember the blood must be taken unwillingly. Binding them and cutting them will do, even if they are asleep.'

'No problem Holly, we can sort that, we'll meet you there in an hour.'

Tonks left for her bedroom, and a couple of minutes later reemerged in a set of robes, grabbed onto Lupin's arm and disapparated.

Holly meanwhile headed back into her assigned room, grabbed a pair of leggings, a cami and some flats, threw a cloak over herself, grabbed what she needed off the side of her bed before she too disapparated.

Reappearing just behind the cemetery she remembered so well, she quickly pulled a miniature cauldron from her pocket. She threw it to the ground in front of her, and with a wave of her wand, the cauldron returned to full size. She repeated this with the second cauldron, and set about lighting them both. She removed the Philosopher's stone from her pocket, and carefully placed it into the bottom of one of the cauldrons. Focusing her magic, she slowly conjured the _Alchemists Base_ inside the cauldron, until it was filled to the top. She removed the stone from the base, and checked her handiwork. The originally transparent base had turned a dark red colour, matching that of the stone. 'Perfect' she muttered to herself.

She then set about repeating this with the other cauldron, and had just finished filling it up when Remus and Tonks apparated in a few meters away from her.

Seeing this, she turned her wand to the empty space and summoned forth two rudimentary constructs, not dissimilar to that utilised by Voldemort in her fourth year. She then removed the resurrection stone from it's cloth bag and levitated it in front of her. With nary a sound, she summoned a small ball of _Fiendfyre_ and levitated the ring through it. As it passed through, a scream could be heard and a small puff of smoke escaped before that too was swallowed by the fire. She extinguished the fire and levitated the now ringless stone in front of her, before rotating it 3 times in mid air.

Suddenly, the spectres of Lily and James Potter appeared, before she waved her hand and they flew forward into the constructs bodies. These were then levitated into their own cauldrons, and the ritual began:

' _Bone of the father, unknowingly taken, you shall revive your child'_

with that, Holly levitated the bones into the respective cauldron.

 _'Flesh of the servant, wilfully given, you shall revive your master'_

With this, Remus withdrew a dagger and removed two of his fingers before levitating them into a cauldron each, his werewolf healing abilities having replaced the missing digits already.

 _'Blood of thine enemy, forcibly taken, you shall revive your foe!'_

Holly dropped the vials of blood into each respective cauldron, before all of a sudden a bright light surrounded them all, shielding them from the view of any outsiders. Moments later, the cauldrons caught aflame, and began to levitate. They then began to convulse and wrap around themselves as if attempting to apparate, before finally they began to take on the shape of the intended form. As the light dissipated, the forms finished their transformation into that of the no longer deceased Lily and James Potter. Holly broke from her position to run into her families arms. Taken aback momentarily, Lily and James then wrapped their arms around their son, now daughter for the first time in years, soon joined by Remus and Tonks as the tears freely flowed from all's eyes.

An hour later found them all sat once again in Tonks' kitchen, enjoying a cup of tea and discussing what had happened since Holly had come back from the dead, and what their next move should be.

'In my opinion..' began Holly 'We should leave the ministry and Dumbledore in the dark with regards to your revival, they would only attempt to dig into what happened here today, and with our luck we would all end up in Azkaban.'

'That is all well and good sweetie, but how are we going to free Sirius if there's technically nobody that knows Wormtail was the secret keeper?' asked James

'That's easily done' replied Holly 'Sirius can escape from Azkaban again, just early this time, break into the Burrow, capture Wormtail, and take him to Amelia Bones's office in the DMLE. As long as he does it before anybody notices his escape, he should be fine. The only question is how to let him know our plans?'

'I'll send him a patronus now, knowing Padfoot, he'll be in the Ministry with the rat within an hour of him leaving. Do you think he'd need any help?' Remus interjected

'I'd be very surprised if he did' responded Lily 'That spell that we used to come back now, transported our consciousness' and our magic, and, for want for a better term, dumped it into our old souls. So really, he should have more than twice the magic he had before, and if I remember rightly he wasn't exactly weak beforehand. Now he should easily be able to escape Azkaban, even without a wand. Add into that the fact that he now has his sanity completely restored, all he has to do is wandlessly create himself a portkey off the island… His power level should allow him to at least transport himself to the edge of the wards, if not directly to the Burrow!'

'If our magic has been combined with that of our old selves, I would love to see how high we all rate on the Merlinean scale now…' muttered Tonks

'The what?' asked Holly

'The Merlinean scale, is the scale by which a witch or wizards magical power is measured. It was first created around 200 years ago by a wizard working for the ICW on a way in which to calculate how strong a witch or wizards magic was, and nobody has found a way to improve on it since. It is administered three times throughout a wizard's life, first when they are born, secondly when they are admitted into a magical school of their choice, and thirdly when they reach their magical majority at the age of 17. A drop of blood is taken from the child at birth, and placed onto the front page of their file at the ministry. That drop is charged with a short bolt of magic, and the amount of magic released in response is measured and recorded on the parchment. The form is linked to the acceptance letter sent to each child when they begin school so that the level is updated, and then when they reach the age of 17 the level is once again magically updated.' Answered Lily

'That just sound stupidly complicated' Holly laughed whilst looking confused 'Anyways, Moony you need to send the patronus to Padfoot, and let him know how he can escape easily, he never was the brightest spark, and he may try and escape the same way he did last time.'

'You think that's complicated, wait until you see the kinds of experiments the Department of Mysteries got up to before the war' laughed Lily 'Some of the things I had to deal with in that place, were unreal, and I wasn't even there long!'

With that, Remus withdrew his wand and summoned his patronus. A few muttered words later and the patronus sped off through the wall and onwards across the country to the prison at Azkaban.

* * *

Meanwhile, sat in said prison cell was one Sirius Black, last remaining member of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Imprisoned in 1981 for the murder or Peter Pettigrew, the betrayal of Lily and James Potter to Voldemort and many other dark magic offences, he had spent the last ten years of his life seemingly withering away within his cell. However, this was not the case. Whilst originally Sirius had spent 13 years within the prison before breaking free, this time his future soul had resided within his body, granting him a complete healing of all the psychological effects Azkaban had had on him. Having spent from the moment he arrived in the past, to the moment Remus patronus appeared in his cell, regenerating his body and reversing the effects of malnourishment that had befallen him.

Given the extensive increase in magical power he had obtained, by the time said patronus arrived a few days after he did, his body was almost fully back to how it was before his incarceration.

Upon receiving the message, he calmly stood up off of his bed, if you could really call the mat in the corner a bed, and picked up one of the loose stones off the floor. With a muttered _Portus_ the stone flashed blue, before returning to its grey hue. Moments later, Sirius Black, one of the most infamous wizards in Magical Britain, disappeared from his cell; momentarily rematerialized on the edge of the prison wards, before thrusting his body forwards through the ward boundary and apparating away with a faint gust of wind.

Far away from the island of Azkaban, Sirius reappeared with another faint whoosh on the edge of the property boundary of the Burrow, known residence of the remaining British Weasley family. Detecting no wards surrounding the property, other than the standard Muggle repelling ones, he strode forward through the open gate, and followed the main path down to the house. Noticing the lack of light emanating from the house, he circled round to the back door, and with a wave of his hand disillusioned himself. To anybody watching the Weasley household, it would have appeared that the back door of the property had blown open in the wind, before being shut just over a minute later. However, this was not the case. Upon entering the household, Sirius briskly walked up the stairs, pausing to silence his footsteps on the first landing after he realised the noise he may cause, and made his way to the bedroom where one ten year old Ronald Weasley slept. Hitting the boy with a mild _Dormio_ hex to ensure he did not wake up, he stunned the rat resting in the cage beside the bed and placed it into a conjured bag, realising that the robes he had been given for prison had long since lost any pockets. Once again silently leaving the room, he closed the door and swiftly made his way downstairs and out of the house, closing the door behind him. Once he left the house, he moved into a full out sprint to the edge of the property before twisting mid stride and apparating away with a barely audiable pop being the only indication he had ever been there.

 **AN Hope you enjoy the chapter guys, let me know what you think in the reviews section? Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer:Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

Deep within the sprawling Metropolis of Muggle London, stood an unassuming phone box. However this was no ordinary phone box, one of few that remained within the city thanks to recent technological advances in handheld communication. No, this particular phone box had a secret, for if you were to stand inside it, grasp the phone and dial _62442_ you would discover that it was the public entrance to the British Ministry of Magic.

Disturbing the peace of the night, stood a lone man, dressed in what appeared to be a tattered cloak and suit. However what was most astounding about this man, was the fact that mere milliseconds ago he had been nowhere around, almost as if he had appeared by _magic_. The man strode into the phone box, dialled the magic number as it were, and waited for the cool voice of the magical receptionist to respond.

' _Please state your name and business with us today.'_

'Sirius Black, rescue mission.' The man replied, shaking his head at the obviousness of the Ministry's _secret_ entrance. Honestly, anybody who thought to read the keys they were typing would realise the laziness of the passcode.

' _Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, we hope you have a pleasant day.'_

A moment later, a name badge dropped out of the coin return slot and was quickly vanished by Sirius as the floor of the phone booth began to descend into the bowels below.

He checked on the state of his prisoner in the bag he had conjured, reapplied the stunner he had first hit him with, and waited for the lift to stop. Once within the wards of the Ministry, he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke: one of the few things he had learnt from Snape before he died, he'd never admit it, but some of the things he had passed onto the Order had been invaluble, including how to copy the Death Eaters short range apparition technique. Before travelling through the atrium, he disillusioned himself once more mid flight and the cloud passed through the atrium unnoticed and into the main lifts network. He travelled down to Level Two, the office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and continued to fly until appearing once more in the ante-chamber to the office of said Department's current head, one Madame Amelia Bones, a woman famed for both her no-nonsense attitude and belief that everybody deserved a fair shot in the eyes of the Law, whether that be in court or during pursuit was up to the criminal themselves.

Removing the charm from himself, Sirius paused to collect himself and ensure he had an exit route if things went pear shaped, before walking through the door and into the office.

The moment Mme Bones realised just who had disturbed her, she had raised her wand and fired off a quick succession of questionable, if legal, curses and stunners towards Sirius before stopping when he failed to return fire and raised his hands in surrender. Conjuring a chair, she bound him to it before stunning him. When he was brought back around, he was surrounded by the faces of Amelia, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, and Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour.

Fudge immediately began ranting about idiots imitating Death Eaters and trying to bring fear to the public however was quickly silenced by a glare from Bones. Scrimgeour tilted Sirius' head back as Amelia leaned forward and dropped three droplets of what Sirius hoped was Veritaserum into his mouth. He felt the potion take effect, however it was much weaker than he had thought it would be: possibly a side effect of his newly acquired magical abilities.

'What is your name?' began Bones

'Sirius Orion Black, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black.'

Fudge blanched at this, staggering over to Amelia's desk and sitting on it's edge. 'What are you doing here? You should be in Azkaban!'

'I escaped, so as to clear my name and bring the true culprit to justice.'

'What are you talking about Black?' injected Scrimgeour

'I was not the Potter's secret keeper when Voldemort' the room flinched 'Attacked the Potter's that Halloween night, nor was I ever a one of His lackeys'

He then proceeded to recount the true tale of that night and his subsequent arrest, finishing by removing Wormtail from his prison, and placing him on the table where he was bound and the Animagus Revealing charm cast upon him, revealing a fat, balding Pettigrew, and ratifying Sirius's story.

Sirius was immediately released from his bonds by an extremely apologetic Fudge, who was happy to hear Sirius placed no blame of his false incarceration on him or his current DMLE staff.

Hours later, Sirius left the Ministry a free man, several hundred thousand galleons richer, and content in the knowledge that Bartemius Crouch Sr. was about to have a very bad day.

* * *

Later that morning, back in the sleepy village of Ottery St Catchpole, a family of red heads were stirring from their nights sleep. Having been a predominantly working class family for the last few generations, the inhabitants of a rickety old house that looked impossible yet was, were up at the crack of dawn with nary a complaint nor whimper from the children. One by one they appeared in the kitchen and sat down to enjoy what would usually be a quiet breakfast, interrupted only by the arrival of the family post owl. However, this was not a normal day, for when the last red headed child stomped down the old stairs, he did so with a worried look on his face.

'Mum, Dad!' he bellowed 'Scabbers has gone missing!'

'Now now Ronald, I'm sure he'll be somewhere around the house, he can't have gotten far!' replied his Mother, a short rounded woman with a head of flaming red hair and a glint of power in her eye if you knew where to look.

'He was locked in his cage all night, the one that Professor Dumbledore gave me for my birthday, he said he wouldn't be able to get out!'

Arthur however did not look perturbed by this news, whilst Molly sitting next to him turned pale. However before anything more could be said, there was a flurry of feathers, and a crash as their aging post owl Errol flew into the box of cereal set upon the table. Arthur removed their copy of the Daily Prophet and began to read, his face turning more and more grave as he did so. Minutes later, he placed the paper on the table and looked into his wife's eyes.

'Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban this morning.'

Molly blanched, her grip on the table tightening. 'What do you mean he escaped? That's impossible!'

'Evidently not dear, because he did so. Not only that, but he escaped and where did he go you might ask? Right into the office of the Director of the DMLE. Apparently he gave irrefutable evidence to her, Head Auror Scrimgeour and Minister Fudge that he was innocent and had been falsely imprisoned.

'That can't be true, he was a Death Eater! You Know Who's right hand man! He betrayed Lily and James to Him personally!'

'Actually, he was the innocent one in all of this. The traitor was in fact Peter Pettigrew.'

'What?!' screamed Molly, causing the children to cover their ears 'Kids, out now.'

Once the remaining Weasley children had filed out, Molly closed the door to the lounge with a wave of her wand, before casting a silencing spell on the door.

'Even if Peter was the traitor, that's not important now, Black killed him nearly ten years ago!'

'Actually, it would appear that the Ministry was wrong on that account as well… Pettigrew himself had blown up that street, cut of his own finger before transforming into his animagus form and fleeing into the sewers. However, that isn't what I'm worried about… There is a picture of his form in the papers today… Remind you of anyone?' he nudged the paper towards her.

Molly gave a sharp intake of breath

'Scabbers… But, it can't be…'

'At first I thought it was just a rat, but if you look carefully, you can see the missing toe and the light patch of fur just around it's head… It's definitely him' replied Arthur 'We just better hope that the Ministry doesn't find out where that rat's been living the past ten years, they'd hang us out to dry, whether we knew he was here or not!' and with that Arthur and Molly both shivered as the thought of what would happen to them popped into their heads 'Right then, I need to head off to work, I'll see you later dear'

He stood from his chair, kissed his wife on the cheek and headed out the back door, apparating away with a sharp crack moments later.

He reappeared in a packed Ministry Atrium, almost immediately being pushed forward from the apparition point and into the Atrium proper. He was ferried along by the crowd for a few minutes before reaching the front of what he now realised was a line, headed by a member of the DMLE. 'What's happening Karl?' asked Arthur  
'After Lord Black's uninterrupted entry to the Ministry last night, the Minister and Madam Bones have decided to up the security of the building, starting with entry checks for all Ministry staff for the next month. You are to pass through this detector here, and it will check your magical signature to ensure that you are who you say you are. Then you are free to continue to your work, if you are found to be an imposter, you'll be carted off to a holding cell to await interrogation from the Hit Wizards. It would seem that the Minister is taking the break in very seriously!'

'I see, well I can't disagree with anything that keeps us safe, so on we go.' And with that, Arthur headed through the detector, passing his wand over to Karl as he did so. A moment later he was handed it back, and was on his way with a cheery 'Have a nice day Arthur' called from behind him.

* * *

A/N Hi there guys, guess who's back writing a bit more frequently? With working nights a few times a week now, it leaves me a lot more time to get back into writing again and hopefully managing to deliver a high standard tale! Not sure if every week is going to see the same amount of chapters, because let's be honest, 3 chapters in 2 days isn't bad and would be very hard to maintain! Until next time, and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the review section!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)

Whilst Arthur Weasley was arriving at work, Sirius Black, recently pardoned man, was sat in a corner of one of Knockturn Alley's lesser known pubs. As he finished his pint, he stood up to go to the bathroom, figuring that any message sent to him by Moony would reach him in there just as well as out here, but as he did so, a small figure brushed against him. He then felt as though he was being squeezed through a minuscule tube before finding himself sprawled out on the floor staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

A split second later he had his wand drawn with a curse on his lips, but he paused at the picture he saw in front of him. Sat on one side of the table was Tonks and Remus, leaning on eachother, relatively normal in his eyes after spending time with them in the afterlife. What really caused him shock was the people sat at the other side of the table.

'Sirius!' exclaimed a voice as Sirius took in the scene before him

'James!' exclaimed Sirius back 'How are you?! Obviously the ritual was a success!'

'Did you really expect anything different Padfoot? It was Lily that came up with the idea after all'

'Of course, of course… little genius that she is' Sirius laughed

'Little genius, huh? Padfoot you prick, just because I'm smaller than you doesn't mean I couldn't drag your arse from here to Hogwarts and back!' Lily grumbled through her teeth

'Yeah yeah, I know, you could have me sat in another country in the middle of the desert with no idea who I am with a completely different face faster than I could say sorry.. but that's enough about our little adventures' Sirius winked 'Where's Harry, and who's the chick?'

Lily put her arm around Holly, waiting for the penny to drop. Holly scrunched up her face, and soon felt her hair shrinking back into her head, shortening to the length it was when she was 11 in the other timeline. She concentrated on her eyes next, them flashing green behind her fringe. Sirius, seeing this, felt his mouth drop in shock at what he was seeing. Noticing Sirius had worked it out, Holly relaxed and her features returned to normal.

'Nice one Hol, I see it still takes effort told hold the transformation?' Tonks noted

'Jesus woman, I've had one days practice with this, sorry for not being as good at it as you with a lifetime of exdperience' Holly laughed

'Hol..?' Sirius questioned 'Is that you, Harry..?'

'Ugh' groaned Holly 'I swear if I have to explain this one more time...'

And so Holly once again set about explaining how they had not just come back in time, but had slipped into an alternate dimension where Harry had been born Holly, and the timeline was exactly ten years later than what they were used to.

'I need a drink' mumbled Sirius as he sank down onto the sofa 'So much for your perfect plan Lily, I should have known the universe would have found a way to fuck us over!'

'Oh stop whining, you're alive, in one piece, and are still the same gender you've always been; you've got it easier than some of us!' laughed Holly 'Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to shower and get ready, we've got a job to do!'

Everyone was left confused as she stood up and left for the bathroom, wondering what job exactly she had in mind since they had not set any firm plans into motion yet.

Half an hour later, Holly walked back into the room to find everyone exactly as she left them, sat at the table discussing various bits and pieces with Sirius sat on the sofa trying to work the television. 'Um, hello? Did nobody listen to what I said?' she said, nudging Sirius as she walked past him

It was at this moment people realised she had returned, noting her dressed in a simple vest top, jacket and jeans, they wondered what she could have in store for them all. She stood looking into a mirror as she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, before tucking her wand through to hold it in place.

'Just like her mother, and she doesn't even realise' smiled James to himself 'So hun, whats the deal? We off anywhere nice and exotic?'

'Well, since this apartment is getting a little crowded I thought now would be as good as ever to go and gut Grimmauld Place, it would give us a larger location to work from and also means that we can claim one of the horcruxes nice and early. I want to sort those out as soon as we can, so we can get rid of the soul pieces before he can corrupt the link and anchor them further'

'You make a lot of sense, Holly' Sirius said, pointing at her 'Everyone follow little genius junior!' he laughed, before tripping over on seemingly nothing as he stood up. Lily however noticed exactly what had caused him to trip, as she eyed her daughter subtly scratching behind her recently pierced ear. Half glaring at her for her behaviour, she couldn't help but smile as Holly looked down at the floor abashed. Seems even with the mind of an adult, she was still afraid of getting in trouble with her mum.

The group eventually managed to get ready, and eventually were all stood in the dining room of the flat waiting to leave.

'Right, Sirius, you apparate in first because we don't know how well warded this place is going to be when we get there. We need to make sure we're not all going to die apparating in with no warning, and since you're the current Lord Black, you should be able to get in fine' Stated Holly

'Balls to that idea!' shuddered Sirius 'Trust me when I say you don't want to go trying to apparating into that house until I've taken over the wards. I saw what happened to someone who tried it once, it wasn't pretty, and they were Blacks by blood. I'm going to apparate across the road and walk in through the front door thank you very much, so you may as well all come with me'

'Fine then, let's just get on with it so I can have my flat back please!' exclaimed Tonks before disapparating. The rest followed suit seconds later, reappearing down the road in an unused parking yard. The group moved as one in the early afternoon sun to where they knew number 12 to be. What shocked them however, was that none of them could see the property, even though they knew where it was supposed to be.

'Looks like because you were never allowed in through the Black wards in this timeline, you can't see the house' Sirius muttered, shaking his head. He walked up to the gate that should lead to number 12, and placed his hand on the fence where the gate should be. A sharp pain enveloped his hand, and he raised it to his face to see a line of blood across his palm. Moments later, the space between numbers 11 and 13 grew and number 12 appeared before his eyes as it should. Closing his eyes, he extended his magic out to the wards, and he sent a pulse towards them. Determining his to be the current Lord Black, he felt the wards send a pulse of magic back and suddenly he could once again sense the familiar wards of the house. With a thought, he allowed the rest of the group access, and felt the group sag in relief as they were once again able to see the house.

'Right then guys, in we go' said Sirius mock jovially, before moving forward and opening the front door, entering the house for the first time in to him felt like decades. Once everyone was inside, they split into two groups of three, with the 3 women heading upstairs, leaving Sirius, Remus and James to clear the ground floor and basement. Using the time to chat in peace away from the girls, talk soon turned to Harry, or Holly as she was now known.

'So how are you dealing with this all Prongs, knowing that your son doesn't really exist anymore?' asked Sirius

'Well, even though he is now a she and is more than happy to be that, it doesn't really feel like I've lost anything, you know? She's still the same child I died for, and would do so again in a heartbeat. Like Tonks said, the only difference now is that instead of coming to me for things a man should teach his son, she'll be going to Lil. Which yeah, is a bit of a downer, but there is nothing to say that in this new world, me and her can't have another child, you know what I mean?'

'Yeah, I think I do. You may have lost out on a couple of things, but you never really had them in the first place so it's not a lot to lose I guess'

'Nope' James smiled 'This just means I can spoil her like I've always wanted to, except now she can be treated like a princess instead!' Remus laughed at this

'Woman or not, do you really think she'll let you do that?' He snorted 'Holly is still as headstrong as ever, and I'm sure she won't want to be babied when she's had to cover her own back for so long'

'That may be true, but that doesn't mean I don't want to spoil her.' James replied.

* * *

Upstairs, the girls were likewise using this time to talk with no men present.

'So Hol, in all seriousness, are you okay being one of the girls? You seem to be taking this really well, I'm not sure I'd cope as well as you if I'd woken up in a man's body.'

'To be honest Tonks, it's surprising me as well. Like, I feel like I should care more, but I just don't, you know? Maybe it's the fact my conscious is being subjected to female hormones, but this pretty much feels normal now. I'm not worried or panicky over the fact I'm not going to get much taller, or the fact I'm going to grow curves and breasts. It just feels like that's the way it should be I guess. Is that weird?'

'Of course not baby' replied Lily quickly 'If you feel like being a girl is right for you, and you're happy staying that way, then you do what makes you happy. Just don't complain when James treats you like his little princess, he always said he wanted a daughter to spoil after you were born. But anyway, enough of the serious talk, since Holly is hear to say, I want to know... How did she cope being dragged shopping for girls clothes and make up and things Tonks?' Lily laughed

Tonks giggled as Holly blushed 'She was literally no trouble, in fact after getting over her initial embarrassment and realising that yes, these clothes were designed to fit her new growing body, she was like a whirlwind. By the end, she was dragging me to different sections of Victoria Secret to find more lounge clothes, and I'm sure I was dragged over to each make up counter in Debenhams at least three times each. She well and truly dived in!'

'What can I say, I may as well live female life to the full, and hey, that stuff that I kept dragging you to was cute!' Holly squealed, crossing her arms

'Oh, look who's the stereotypical beauty girl now eh Hol? Could send Lavender Brown packing acting like that, if what Hermione and Ginny told me was right' Tonks laughed 'Don't worry, I'm only messing with you, as long as you stay the same kick ass person you've always been, who cares if you're a full on girly girl!'

'Well it all just seems to appealing and fun, I can't help myself!' Holly admitted, staring down at the floor in embarrassment. 'Any way, enough mocking me! Let's get this job done... Tonks. Why are you casting single spells at each thing that needs sorting in here?'

'What do you mean?' asked Tonks, confused.

'Please tell me you know how to use intent magic?' Paused Holly, shocked. At Tonks' head shake, she sighed 'Looks like we've found our first training session then! How about you mum, do you?'

'Of course I do! I was an unspeakable for a short while before I had you I'll have you know, it's a requirement there since the things they tend to deal with in the tech side tend to be experimental and don't have exact incantations yet. Tonks, watch a learn sweetie'

With that, Lily drew her wand and with a large sweeping motion, the room was cleared of dirt, damp and cobwebs; the clutter of the room had shifted and sorted itself neatly, and the curtains were drawn open to let in some natural light.

'Boom, as if by magic, the work is done' Lily laughed and Tonks awestruck face 'Relax, it's a lot easier than it sounds once you know what you're doing, and really its a more primative version of what you do already. You literally have to use the intent of the spell you want to cast, and guide the magic there yourself rather than through an incantation. Think of it as controlled accidental magic I guess, massively cuts down on brainwork when casting spells, and makes things that would be impossible with non-verbal incantations possible; like casting two different spells at once.' She emphasised this point with a short wave of her wand, firing a colour change charm and a finite at the wall simultaneously. The wall flashed blue before returning to it's original green colour.

'Right, on that note, Tonks you go with mum and start on this floor, I'll start right at the top and we'll meet in the middle, yeah? Shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes to get these rooms finished and then we can go down and see what the guys are up to'

'Yes ma'am' Tonks mock saluted leaving Holly shaking her head with laughter.

Less than an hour later, the guys had managed to finish the parlor and the hallway, but were shocked to find the girls walking down the stairs giggling about something.

'Given up as a bad job already ladies?' asked Sirius grinning

'Not a chance Black, upstairs is done, what have you three managed to do?' Holly stated confidently, leaving for quite an amusing picture of a 4'11" girl stood staring into the eyes of somebody over a foot taller than her.

Sirius choked on his retort as he realised that she was right, and even the bits of stairs and landing he could see looked a lot cleaner. Looking back down, he finally noticed what he had thought was odd about Holly's appearance. 'Hey Holly, I get how as a girl you took on more of your mum's looks, but what's with the eyes? They definitely aren't your dads?'

'I thought that too, Olivander first tipped me off when he said I had my dad's _families_ eyes not his, which got me to thinking, who in the Potter family had purple eyes? Then I realised, he didn't mean the Potters, or even the Black's for that matter. The last known family specific eye colour that was purple, was the Peveralls. I remember reading it when I was training in the future, the Peveralls were well known for their distinguishing purple eyes. Looks like for whatever reason I've got them too. But since I can change my eye colour easily, it didn't seem that big a deal to me.'

'Fair enough, it's not like eye colour is really seen as a big thing anymore since all of the families tend to be related to eachother nowadays. Anywho, how is it that you girls have finished all of upstairs already? It took us 3 ages to just do the parlour and the hall? I'm just glad that because I have sole control of the wards, I was able to seal old Mum's curtains up over her portrait... Her screaming is DEFINITELY something I do not miss!'

'We're done so quickly Sirius, because we used our brains and instead of just casting spells on everything, just used intent casting instead... Did you guys not think of that?' Lily said, pulling tongues at the boys

'Intent magic is a myth!' countered Sirius 'Everyone knows that!'

'Actually' countered James 'Back in the original timeline, I saw Lil use that stuff a lot when we moved in together, I never really saw much use in it because it drains you a lot quicker and there are already exact spells to do whatever I needed to do'

'Well that was your mistake dad, we used it on every room upstairs and feel fine... Must have something to do with our power increase coming back to the past?' Wondered Holly aloud 'Oh well, I'm sure between the 6 of us the rest of the house will be a piece of cake!'

With that, the group walked through each room, casting as they went and sure enough in next to no time the house was finished and they could finally relax in the kitchen downstairs. 'Okay then, who's hungry?' with a nod of heads, Sirius called out 'Kreacher!' and with a crack, the old house elf appeared.

'Yes Master?' Kreacher grumbled 'Filthy Blood Traitor allowing mudbloods and filth into Mistress house, oh what would she say if she could see the state of the House of Black today' he muttered

Just as Sirius was about to rise to Kreacher's insults, Holly walked forward and leaned down to Kreacher's eye level

'Kreacher? I know Master Regulus left you a job to do when he vanished, and I want to help you do that job, okay? But if I do, I want you to go back to acting how a house elf to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black should, do you understand me?'

'Miss would really help Kreacher? You would help him fix his failure to Master Regulus? Truly?' Kreacher looked at her in amazement

'I will Kreacher, now fetch me the locket. I know you have hidden it whilst we were cleaning, because I couldn't find it anywhere.'

'Yes Miss, right away Miss' and with that Kreacher disapparated, only to reappear moments later clutching the locket 'An evil thing it is Miss, Master Regulus was most clear when he told Kreacher to destroy it, but Kreacher can't, oh how he has tried and tried, but he has never succeeded. Kreacher thought he would be a disappointment forever Miss, but not now! If you's can help Kreacher finish Master Regulus task, Kreacher would happily serve the house of Black as he should, because the House of Black would mean something again!'

Holly gently took the locket from Kreacher's hands, and placed it onto a conjured table. 'Now Kreacher, we're not going to destroy the locket. We're going to separate the evil from inside it. Then, as a reward for your service to the House of Black, I want you to wear it. It will be your reward from Master Regulus, okay?'

'Oh yes Miss, anything you desire, Kreacher will do it for you!'

'Okay then, let's do this' with that, Holly took off her jacket and once again drew her wand from her hair. Pointing it at the Horcrux, she sent out a tendril of magic, allowing the Horcrux inside to latch onto it, before pulling quickly and drawing it out of the locket. With the locket purged, she handed it back to Kreacher, and quickly conjured a case that appeared to be made of glass. With a nod at her mother, Lily quickly came forward and inscribed the runes for sealing, binding and prison onto the box, and Holly forced the magical tendril into the box before severing the connection, leaving the Horcrux floating inside like a gaseous black mass.

'Huh' Remus noted 'Looks a lot like an Obscurus when you separate the Horcrux, although I guess they're pretty similar when you think about it. Both are cases of souls engulfed in magic, although one is by choice of the soul holder'

'You're right, how strange' replied Holly 'Although I have never actually seen an Obscurus for longer than a few seconds, Voldemort was quick to have them put down in the future because of their destructive power. Then once he began taking over the Muggle world, they all but vanished from the UK when there were no children being forced to internalise their magic. Makes me wonder how I never managed to become one... Must have been because I continued to experience outbursts even with punishments. Strange.'

'Well there isn't a lot of research on Obscurials to be honest Holly' admitted Remus 'The last person to capture one would have been Newt Scamander in the 1920's, and aside from that one that disipated on it's own, the last recorded was the one that attacked New York when Grindelwald had kidnapped and impersonated Percival Graves, Head Auror for MACUSA'

'I know that name!' exclaimed Holly 'But not from school.. Where do I know it from..?' she paused

'Aha! I know! By the time we were searching for foreign aid against Voldemort he was the President of MACUSA. Seemed an okay guy, was more than happy to help out against another dark lord. Seemed there was no love lost between him and dark magic. Not surprising now I know what he was involved in when he was younger.'

'Indeed, even before we died in the other timeline, Percival Graves was the head of MACUSAs DMLE, second in command of MACUSA if I remember rightly, and back then he was always quick to send Aurors when he could to help against the Death Eaters' added James

'Maybe it would be worth enlisting his help in our little mission... I'm sure once we explained what we intend to happen, he would be more than happy to help. He never was a fan of Fudge's Ministry, even when Graves wasn't president he knew how much of a cock Fudge was.' Holly laughed 'Well I'm getting a bit ahead of myself I think. Once we've had some lunch, I think we may as well chill out for a while and enjoy the nice clean house, then maybe we could go on an do a spot of training? Maybe even some duelling practice?' She looked at everyone hopefully with puppy dog eyes

'Oh Merlin, she's mastered that look already, we're all screwed!' moaned Sirius dramatically, before ducking under a pillow Holly had conjured and thrown.

* * *

After lunch the group moved up to the house's duelling gallery, a room Holly had not originally discovered until after the Battle for Hogwarts. As she walked into the room, she couldn't help but remember the annoyance she felt at not discovering the room sooner, as a place to train and practice whilst she was younger would have been a godsend back then.

'Right then Holly, you wanted a duel, so the question is.. Who do you want to duel?' Tonks asked, barely concealing a grin

'Oh, I want to duel Padfoot, I think he could do with being taken down a peg, don't you ladies?' Holly replied, Lily and Tonks both laughed and nodded, before laughing even more at Sirius feigned hurt look.

'Fine, don't worry, I'll go easy on you so that you don't get too hurt' Sirius laughed, before removing his jacket and tossing it to one side.

As both combatants entered the duelling area, the podium raised itself slightly off the floor, before a flash of light surrounded the platform leaving behind a haze of protective wards.

'So how about it Holly, want to throw the first curse?'

Holly answered by bowing at Sirius, and as soon as he bowed back, began to throw basic hexes at him. Nothing dangerous, in fact mostly first and second year spells designed to irritate more than anything else.

Expecting something worse, Sirius had raised a shield and was shocked to see the hexes just bounce off his shield with no strain on his magic. Not pausing to think about this, he quickly retaliated with disarming charms and stunners, looking to end the fight quickly.

Holly batted these away as if they were nothing more than an annoyance, before returning fire with a multitude of curses, half of which Sirius didn't even recognise. Not wanting to risk anything, he quickly dodged the curses he did not know and shielded against the ones he knew he could. Hearing a gong sound behind him, he turned to see the wards shimmer red and cracks appear on them, before they regenerated and returned to normal.

'Jesus girl, that went from nought to one hundred pretty damn fast!' he laughed, before sending his own barrage of curses back at her.

She also managed to dodge these, and the hurling of curses and hexes at one another continued for a further fifteen minutes, before Holly twisted on the spot and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Following suit, Sirius did the same and the circled the duelling platform wards, trading curses with eachother as they flew. Suddenly Holly landed back on the platform and cast a motionless, non-verbal anti disapparition jinx on the wards, causing Sirius to fall in a heap at the other end of the platform.

Just as he moved to react, he found himself strung up by his ankle, his wand dropped useless to the floor.

'Do you yield?' asked Holly, smiling

Through struggled breathing, Sirius managed to reply 'I yield' and he fell to the ground with a thump. The platform lowered itself to ground level, and the wards dissipated leaving a stunned group of onlookers.

'You're not even worn out, are you Holly?' asked Tonks in awe

'Well, I feel like I should be' admitted Holly 'But I'm just, not, you know? I feel like I could have carried going on like that forever? You really need to work on your endurance padfoot, if you get caught in a drawn out duel like that again I don't want you making mistakes and risking your life, okay?' Holly finished, concerned

'Of course I'm going to train Hol, what did you think we were going to do whilst you were at Hogwarts? Nothing?'

'Weeeelllllllll...' started Holly

'Well nothing, Sirius is going to take up his place on the Wizengamot again, and he's also going to be the proxy seat for the Potters since neither your father or I can take the seat since we're supposed to be dead. Whilst he's not at meetings he's going to be training with us and Remus. Tonks is going to rejoin the aurors aren't you Tonks?'

'That's right Lily, I always enjoyed it in my past life, and since I seem to have a better grasp on my magic and my metamorph skills, my balance and coordination seem better too. So I figured, why not? At the very least it'll give us access to firsthand intel if we do go on to do anything major. Plus it also puts me in a good position to recruit trained fighters for our cause.' She finished proudly 'What is our cause?' she added sheepishly, looking down.

'All we want to do is stop the Ministry from being a breeding ground for hate and prejudice. I'm not looking to tear down a government and build a new one in my image' Holly laughed 'All we are fighting for is to create a magical Britain where people like Voldemort don't have reason to exist, a place where nobody is made to feel like their only option in life is to fight and cause harm.'

'Oh!' Tonks brightened up 'Well in that case that should be easy to recruit for! You wouldn't believe the amount of disgruntled aurors hate how the department is run by Fudge's lackeys! At least that's what it was like, I'm making the assumption it'll be the same now.'

'Well that's fine, I know you're not going to be an auror til at least '94, well 2004 I guess with this timeline shift, so that leaves us plenty of time to prepare ourselves. I know we're doing okay now, but we need to train our bodies, and train our new and improved magic. I know I've got a steeper learning curve than the rest of you but that's no excuse to slack off'

'Yes ma'am!' Sirius mock saluted, before ducking from a retaliation that never came, leaving everyone laughing at him.

'Oh piss off!' he laughed

* * *

Hundreds of miles to the north, a lone man stood in his office gazing out across the ground of Hogwarts. He strode over to his desk to sort a few papers, before his hand ran up his face to his turban.

'Soon Quirell' a voice hissed 'Soon the Potter bitch will be here, and we can begin my plan to restore me to power!'

'Yes, My Lord' responded Quirell, seemingly to thin air 'You shall have your body back by the end of the year, I swear it!'

'Oh, I know you will not fail me Quirell' hissed the voice 'Your failure will mean your life.'

'There is no question My Lord, we will not fail...'

* * *

AN - There we go, another chapter up! Seemed really hard to write this one, not sure why :S, oh well, please feel free to leave any comments, positive or otherwise, would love to hear your feedback on what you like and dislike! Until next time!


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** **Harry Potter does not belong to me, anything you recognise isn't mine, anything you do not, is :-)**

The time flew past as the family, as they called themselves, spent their days throwing themselves into training to get themselves into better shape both physically and magically. Hours at a time were spent in the dueling gallery testing out new spells and new fighting styles and tactics they had researched in their down time, with all of them having to adapt their style as they further pushed both their bodies and magic, however nobody found themselves having to adapt quite as much as Holly.

Some point in the middle of August, she found herself being thrown down onto a conjured mat once again by Tonks, who always seemed to beat her whenever it came to physical combat.  
'For the love of Merlin!' cursed Holly 'This is so hard to get used to! It's one thing letting myself naturally move in a feminine way in day to day things, but I just can't seem to get the hand of anything physical, what gives?'

'Right Hol, I think its time we give up on one on one for now and just focus purely on your technique. For lack of a better way of saying this, you're still trying to fight like a guy, and you're just not built for that any more I'm afraid hon. Don't just focus on brute strength, we're going to have to get you to learn to use your whole body in a fight. Physically, you are on the backfoot because of your build, but don't worry we can compensate for that. I think if we focus a bit more on your flexibility and acrobatic skill, we can in time develop that into your own fighting style; you're never going to be a brute, but there's nothing to say you can't make up for the in speed and agility' explained Tonks

The duo then switched tactics and spent the next few hours training Holly in some basic gymnastic movements, which she quickly picked up. Before long she was starting to utilise these skills in a fight, and by the end of the day had managed to finally pin Tonks to the mat.

'Whew!' Holly exhaled, exhausted 'Finally! Wow, fighting as a girl takes it out of you a lot more than I thought, much less painful though'

'See?' panted Tonks, barely able to breathe 'Now you've found your style, you're damn good at it! Even I didn't think you'd pick it up that quickly though?'

'Must be magic!' laughed Holly

A few nights later found the group congregated in the heavily warded secret room in the cellar of Grimmauld Place, anxiously awaiting Remus first transformation since coming back to the past. As the midnight light crept in through the small window at the top of the room, he began to change, and Holly, Lily and Tonks quickly left the room as Sirius and James forms also began to change into that of their animagus selves.

As the girls returned upstairs, they could not help but feel some small amount of guilt that they were unable to help Remus more than they had done. Sure, they had made sure that he would be unable to hurt himself in the room by enchanting the walls and floor, and having both Sirius and Remus with him through the night should distract and calm him down, but they had been unable to create a perfect Wolfsbane potion in time for his transformation. Admittedly it didn't help that it did not seem to have been published yet, as they had realised upon researching then remembering it had not been initially published until the summer after Holly's second year in the previous timeline.

'I know we've done as much as we can, but I still feel like we should have done more, y'know?' huffed Tonks as she slumped down into one of the chairs in the lounge 'I don't know, just, anything!'

'Look, Tonks, out of all of us mum is the only one who may have been able to do anything more, and even she wouldn't have been able to master the animagus tranformation in time. Even if she did it would just leave us two sat in this same position, since we can't become animagi, so please, stop worrying!' replied Holly

'Meh, you're right Hol, doesn't make me feel any better but still.'

'Well I'm sure we can try and fix that...' began Lily 'Since those three are down there having fun as animals, as much as they can anyway, we may as well do something to lift our spirits too. Plus, this is one of the last times we're going to be able to have a girls night, with Holly starting Hogwarts next week and you starting at the Auror academy too.'

'Girls night?' questioned Holly 'Sure, I'm in!'

'Oh, go on then' conceded Tonks with a small smile.

A few hours later Tonks and Lily were sat at opposite ends of the sofa, with Holly asleep in an arm chair on the other side of the room wrapped in a blanket.

'Don't you find it strange?' asked Tonks

'Find what strange?' replied Lily, confusion showing on her face at the random question

'How quickly Holly has adapted to being a girl?' continued Tonks 'I mean, watching how she acts from day to day, I would think she has always been one. The way she moves, acts, speaks... Even the way she tucks her wand into her hair when she ties it up. She literally screams femininity, when Harry was never anything like that.'

'To be honest, I did to begin with, it was weird she was so feminine so quickly. But now I've gotten used to it, and I've had time to think about it, I think its a combination of her hormones driving her brain to emulate other women, as well as her desire to appear genuine and to not stand out. I don't think she even has to think about it anymore, there seems to be literally no male behaviours left in her. She's 100% girl now, and I'm more than happy to have a daughter!' Lily smiled 'It's nice to be able to have a child to share things I enjoy with that I don't think she would have enjoyed as Harry, and to have someone I can spend time pampering with. I know it sounds stereotypical, but sometimes it's nice to have a girl's girl around, and Holly is more than happy to be her, and I'm happy as long as she is happy.'

'That's so good to hear, I mean I was taken aback to begin with, but the way she acts makes it so easy to only see her as Hol, and I think I've made a best friend I would never have had if she was still Harry... Is it selfish to be happy that this happened to her?'

'I don't think so, like I said, she's happy as she is, so I think its fine for us to be happy about it too'

'Plus it means we get to have fun showing her how to use make up and how to accessorize!' laughed Tonks 'But if you ever tell anybody that I enjoy things like that I'd have to kill you, okay? Can't go ruining my hardcore rep' she winked

The duo broke into a fit of giggles at Tonks threat, before they both curled up on an arm of the sofa each and fell asleep.

* * *

The morning of September 1st, Holly woke up in her bed just as any other day. A few seconds later however, she realised what date today was and all of a sudden was overwhelmed with feelings of both excitement, and apprehension. Today was the day she would go to, or in her mind return to, Hogwarts; and with that, set forth their plans to remove any traces of oppression present in the British Ministry of Magic.

Once she got up, she made her way into her bathroom and stepped into the shower. Taking note of the changes her body had begun to go through since she had arrived back in the past, she proceeded to wash away the last traces of sweat from her body from her last minute training the night before. Just before she stepped out of the shower, she quickly washed her hair and ran a hand down her legs, magically removing any traces of hair on them. Since coming to the past, she had been repulsed at the idea of having hair anywhere on her body below her eyes, something that had confused her to begin with as she remembered it being almost a trophy in her previous life, but soon coming to accept these new feelings.

Drying herself off with a quick charm as she walked back into her bedroom, she pulled out a simple set of clothes consisting of a loose fitting top and pair of jeans and got dressed. Finishing off her outfit with a simple pair of black ballet flats, she looked in the mirror and tried to manipulate her hair into tying itself up using her metamorph skills. Giving it up as a bad job a few seconds later, she pulled her hair back herself and secured it with her wand. With a last look, she pulled a light jacket off the back of her dressing table chair and flung it on her shoulders before setting off downstairs.

Breakfast was a pretty somber affair, as despite this being the plan all along, nobody was happy to be saying goodbye to Holly for at least three months. Least happiest of all was Tonks, who had come downstairs with her hair long and dark, her natural appearance. Holly instantly knew something was up, as this combined with a lack of excitement at attending her Auror training was a major warning sign. Walking over to her new best friend, she squeezed her with a hug and pointed something out that the young Auror to be clearly hadn't realised.

'You know, it's not like I can't sneak out to see you now and then you know?' Holly muttered mischievously 'It's not like the wards are going to be any trouble to slip by, we'll have to arrange some girls afternoons some time during term? Obviously I would have to make sure it's at a time where my disappearance won't be noticed but still, I'm sure we can manage'

Tonks brightened up at this thought, her hair instantly changing colour to a vibrant purple and shortening lightly 'You're such a bad influence Holly Jane Potter!' she accused 'I'm an Auror, or at least I will be, I shouldn't be encouraging this! Who'd have thought a little pipsqueak like you would end up my best friend, AND end up being the one corrupting me!' she pulled her tongue out, laughing.

After the group had finished their meal, graciously prepared by a newly transformed Kreacher who had only been happy to serve the rag-tag family after being helped to complete Regulus last request to him - although everyone knew it was Holly he really thought of as his mistress, the group moved to the lounge for a last goodbye before Sirius and Tonks were to take Holly to the station. James and Lily were almost beside themselves at the thought of not seeing their child for so long, even though they knew she was definitely old enough to take care of herself. After a tearful hug, the pair finally calmed down enough to laugh at Sirius being hit with his own prank curse he had tried to subtly shoot at Tonks when he thought she wasn't looking.

After they had stopped laughing long enough to counter the spell, James and Sirius looked at one another before turning to Holly and giving her a few gifts. Firstly they gave her her own mirror, newly improved by Lily to be able to connect to more than one other. Instead of it only being two way, there were now six mirrors, one for each of them, all able to connect to one another both separately and all at the same time. The second present they gave however was one that Holly had not been expecting.

'Right, Holly, we know that Fred and George currently have the original Marauders Map, so we thought to ourselves, we can't take such a tool off two young pranksters like that, it would be criminal' James began, mocking outrage at the thought of depriving pranksters like that

'So we decided, why not give you your own?' Continued Sirius 'So your dad, Remus and I sat up and created one for you too, and even made a few improvements if I do say so myself'

'You can't be serious?' deadtoned Lily, glaring at James

'No, he's Sirius, I'm James' laughed James, before ducking under Lily's hastily fired hex, right into Sirius awaiting slap.

'Hey! Serious Sirius puns are my deal, leave them to the master James!'

'Hey!' yelled Lily 'My point was, _who_ exactly was it that came up with the upgrades to the map?'

' _Fineeeeee'_ drawled Sirius 'Your mum and Remus came up with some upgrades to the map for you, and we all thought it would be a nice surprise for you before you go.'

'Oh guys, thank you! I don't know what to say!' she ran and pulled them all into a group hug as a thanks for her gifts.

'Hey Hol, you don't think I forgot a present for you did you?' Tonks smirked 'I know you've been pretty set with the Jewelry you bought when we first went shopping, but I thought you could do with something new to go to Hogwarts with, so I got you these, they're enchanted to change colour to whatever you want, you just have to put them on and think of the colour. They're also set to naturally sit in your house colours if you don't want anything different, pretty cool huh?'

'Oh Tonks, they're beautiful! Thank you!' Holly ran to Tonks and almost jumped on her with her hug. After climbing down off of her, she quickly removed the earrings she was already wearing and put them carefully in her pocket, before replacing them with her new ones.

'Oh I almost forgot, you can also get them to change shape too, the gems stay the same size, but the holder itself will change with a thought. Anything from studs for everyday use, to elegant dangling ones too. Good for every occasion!' Tonks said, instantly noticing Holly perk up even more at this, if possible, as she twitched her eyebrow in thought, and the earrings shrank into smaller studs with a green emerald sat in the holder.

'They look lovely on you sweetie, Tonks has a good eye it seems' Lily mentioned 'Thanks Tonks, Holly clearly loves them'

'I do!' she nodded quickly 'Thank you!'

'Right then' started Sirius, looking at the clock on the mantel 'It's just gone half ten, time to set off I should think. Your trunk ready Hols?'

'Sure is Padfoot, it's at the bottom of the stairs waiting. How are we getting to Kings Cross?'

'Me and Tonks are going to apparate you there, I know you can do it yourself, probably a damn sight better than either of us can, but we need to make it look like side-along for everyone else's benefit. I'm gonna take your trunks, whilst Tonks is going to side-along you, okay?'

'Sure. Bye Mum, bye Dad! I'll make sure to call you on the mirrors once I've been sorted and gone to bed, okay?'

Hearing Holly speak like that, one could almost believe she truly was an eleven year old girl, nervously setting off to Hogwarts for the first time. James and Lily stood with sad smiles on their faces; happy that they were finally able to see their child off to Hogwarts properly, but also sad at the fact they had only really gotten to know her in the last month and a bit, and now could not see her properly until Christmas. They quickly hugged her goodbye, before the three travelers disappeared with a quiet pop.

* * *

Reappearing a split second later in a secluded archway far down the platform, Holly turned to her Godfather and Tonks, thanked them once again for her gifts, and made her way onto the train to find herself a quiet compartment. Finding one straight away, she quickly realised she may find herself receiving unwanted guests since it wasn't exactly a secret that she was attending Hogwarts this year, and with a thought changed her hair colour to a dirty blonde, and her eyes to a less noticeable brown. She was soon proved right in her assessment as she repeatedly suffered knocks on her compartment door, asking her if she had seen 'the famous Holly Potter, you know, the one with the scar?'.

Eventually, there was a light knock on the door and a mass of brown hair appeared, followed by the scared face of a young eleven year old girl that Holly instantly recognised, barely able to contain her joy at her luck.

'Erm, Hi' the girl waved awkwardly 'Is there any chance I could sit in here with you? It's just, this is the quietest compartment I've found so far, at least the quietest where the people in there aren't too much older than me...'

'Of course you can' Holly smiled brightly 'Plenty of room here, I'll just move these books for you, hope you don't mind the mess?'

'Oh no! Books are never a mess, I haven't been able to put them down since I got my letter and the professor came to explain magic to me and my family.. I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger'

'Nice to meet you Hermione, I'm Holly, Holly Potter, but don't tell anyone!' she made a shushing gesture with her finger

Hermione instantly froze, looking at her as if to decide whether she was lying or not. 'Please don't think me rude, but you look nothing like how Holly Potter is described in the books...'

Holly subtly flicked her wrist at the door, silently locking it, before letting her natural form take over. Hermione gazed on shocked as Holly's hair returned to it's natural red tones and her eyes flickered back to purple. Holly grinned before quickly returning to her less noticeable disguise and magically unlocking the door once more.

'What.. How.. Huh?' stammered Hermione 'How did you do that? The books say that human transfiguration like that is very advanced magic, and you did all of that without even lifting your wand?!'

'Relax Hermione, I'm not some super witch, it's a natural born ability I have, I'm what they call a metamorphmagus, it's a wizard or witch, usually witch, that has the inborn ability to manipulate her appearance without outside influence such as spells and potions.' Holly quoted perfectly the textbook definition of what she was.

'I've never heard of those... Are they rare or?'

'Oh, extremely... As far as I'm aware, there are only a handful of full powered metamorphs still alive in the UK. There are loads of more common abilities similar to it, they usually show up in diluted offshoots of families that produce them. Tends to be they can affect basic things like growing hair or changing their eye colour.'

'Fascinating..' breathed Hermione

'Uh uh uh!' Holly interjected 'I'm a person, just like you, so don't even begin to think about analysing me Granger, I can see your mind whirring away in there.'

'Sorry' replied Hermione, abashed 'It's habit, I can't help but want to understand everything that goes on in this world, I must be so far behind everyone else being a Muggle Born.' her shoulder drooped slightly, before her face hardened 'But I won't be for long, I'm sure of it!'

'Don't stress yourself out there girl, you'd be surprised just how dull some of these people are, I grew up with Muggles and since moving in with my godfather and socialising with other wizards and witches, they're exactly the same as you and me. Not many of them get much in the way of magical lessons, since they can't get a wand until they are eleven years old.'

'Ohhhh' understanding dawned on Hermione's face 'So I'm not going to be behind anyone?'

'Don't get me wrong, there may be some people that can outdo you to begin with, but you're not so disadvantaged so as to be never able to catch up, so just work hard and you'll be as good as everyone else, if not better, in not time' Holly smiled

Before the conversation could continue, they were interrupted by the door once again opening, this time to reveal a young boy of around eleven years old, with a head of distinctive ginger hair. Before Holly could even register the fact that her other friend Ron was stood in front of her, he opened his mouth and ruined her memory of him instantly:

'Oh, never mind, I was looking for somebody but she's obviously not here. I don't suppose either of you have seen Holly Potter on the train? Professor Dumbledore told me it's really important I find her and be her friend, so that she can't be corrupted by any Slytherins!'

Holly was shocked at his words; he was looking for her because he had been told to?! Before she could respond he continued 'Not sure why all the fuss, who cares if some stupid girl makes friends with the slimy snakes, it's not like she's really that important. Really she should be looking to be friends with me, so that I can save her from all the bad guys in the world!'

And with that melodramatic speech she never thought she would hear Ron say, he turned and left to continue his hunt for Holly Potter, just a stupid girl he needed to save from evil.

'Ugh, can you believe him?' Hermione scowled 'It's the 21st century for crying out loud, we don't need men to save us, we can look after ourselves thank you very much!'

Holly just nodded, still in shock.

A little more time passed as the two girls continued to talk about various things, what their interests were, what they thought of the magical world compared to the Muggle world, when there was a polite knock at the door.

Holly stood to open the door, and stood on the other side was a face she was pleasantly surprised to see, for stood right in front of her was one Draco Malfoy.

He spoke; 'Sorry to disturb you ladies, but I don't suppose either of you have seen Holly Potter? I met her in Diagon Alley, and wanted to carry on speaking to her.'

It was at this moment that Holly noticed that Draco was alone, and was not flanked by his old henchmen Crabbe and Goyle, so she quickly grabbed his robes and pulled him into the compartment, locking the door again in the process.

'What's the meaning of this? Unhand me!'

'Relax Draco, its me!' replied Holly, letting her disguise fall away revealing her natural form.

'Potter? You're a metamorphmagus?' asked Draco, instantly recognising her ability 'I didn't realise that was a trait of the Potter blood?'

'That's because it's not, and its Holly to my friends Draco, assuming that's what you want to be?'

'Of course! I'd insist on you calling me Draco, but you already seem to be doing that anyway...' Draco trailed off with a grin 'But how are you a metamorph then? If you don't mind my asking' He quickly added, typical of Draco to slip into some attempt at Pure Blood Manners thought Holly with a smile.

'I'm related to the Blacks through my dad's mum, just so happened to be prevalent enough to turn up in me I guess. I choose to just accept it rather than question it, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.'

'Makes sense to me' Draco replied 'Now then, are you not going to introduce me to your friend Holly?'

'Oh, damn sorry! Draco, this is Hermione Granger, Muggleborn. Hermione, this is Draco Malfoy, Sacred 28 Pureblood. Although given the amount of half bloods that have married into the Malfoy family, I'm not sure you still classify...'

Draco stood there in shock as Hermione extended her hand, not knowing whether to be more offended at being introduced to a muggleborn, or to have his families purity be called into question. However whilst mulling this over his etiquette lessons took over and he mindlessly found himself shaking Hermione's hand back.

'Now now Draco, I can see you're about to pitch a fit. Yes, Hermione may be muggleborn, but trust me when I say she more than acts as an exception to what you may have been told growing up. One can rise above their blood status after all.'

Draco could find no fault in this logic; while yes it may be true he had been raised knowing he was above muggles and muggleborns, his mother had always been quick to point out that there are those who defy their origins and prove themselves worthy of being more than just a muggleborn. After all, when Draco had been taught by his mother recently, she was more than happy to delve into the history of Grindelwald rather than the previous Dark Lord, and he had no preference when it came to blood; Magic is Magic.

'What's up with him?' giggled Hermione as Draco was in the midst of his internal struggle

'You'll find a lot of pureblood families are raised to believe that Muggleborns are beneath them, and are not worth their notice. Draco here is one of them, although it seems his mother has been trying her best to instill some teachings that go against this. You'll find that to begin with people may look down on you for your heritage, but once they see your skill in magic, that is what they will use to assess you. It's archaic, and for the most part, wrong; but it wouldn't be the first time falsehoods have been believed by many after all.'

'What do you mean, for the most part?' asked Hermione, a slight edge to her tone.

'Woah, don't look at me like that' Holly replied defensively 'I'm not saying you're any less of a witch than me, okay? What I'm saying is that in some instances muggleborns have been a source of trouble. Well, muggle raised rather than muggleborn, it just so happens that the majority of muggle raised are muggleborns. You don't have to worry about the Statute of Secrecy being breached as easily by magical parents, and believe it or not abuse still happens in some places purely because a child shows signs of magic and the parent dislikes it.'

'Well, you do raise a solid argument there. I can't really argue with that logic, I just wish they would see it on a case by case basis than branding us all with the same brush, I mean my parents have been nothing but supportive since they found out.'

'I know Hermione, but that's people for you, wherever you go. Always quick to judge, whether in the magical or nonmagical worlds'

It was at this moment Draco finally realised where he still was, and after a split second pause, engaged both Holly and Hermione in conversation about various things, such as school subjects, hobbies and the like. Draco had decided to heed his mother's advice and wait and see if this Granger shows promise, after all if Holly Potter deems her proficient enough to be around her, who was he to argue without proof.

* * *

By the end of the train ride, Draco had found himself praying thanks to the gods that he had listened to his mother over his father, as he had quickly learned that both witches were well beyond him in magical theory. Whilst he could keep up with the general bits and pieces they discussed in the most part, there were times he struggled to keep up with the tangents they went on about one subject or another. If these ladies were half as good with practically applying themselves as they were at theory, then they would be very formidable indeed.

As the train began to slow down as it approached Hogsmeade, Draco left the compartment so that Holly and Hermione could quickly change. A few minutes later, Holly opened the door to let Draco back in only to bump into one Neville Longbottom looking for his toad. Taking pity on the boy that would one day become than man leading the resistance at Hogwarts during Snape's tenure as headmaster, she pulled her wand from her hair and with a slight flick and a muttered _Accio_ for the benefit of everyone else, she was handing the toad back to the thankful boy's hands. Shocked at Holly's casual display of magic far more advanced than she should be capable of, Draco found himself once again at a loss for words because of one Holly Potter.

Neville stuck near the group after this, and since Holly was more than happy to engage him in the conversation, any awkwardness that may have been between Neville and Draco soon faded away. Not long after Neville had sat down, the trained finally pulled to a stop in the station, and the four rose to leave. Making their way out of the carriage and down to the platform, Holly quickly glanced into a window as they moved to make sure that her disguise was still in place. Seeing it was, she continued to follow the steady stream of students towards the friendly giant stood at one end of the platform.

'Firs' years! Firs' years o'er here!'

Holly couldn't help but smile at hearing Hagrid's voice again, it had been years since she had been able to speak with the half giant hero. She and her new friends quickly followed to where he was directing them, and once all the first years were together they moved towards where Holly knew the edge of the Black Lake to be. Following Hagrid's instructions to climb in a boat in groups of four, the group of friends quickly found one climbed aboard. Once everyone was settled in their seats, and Holly had subtly summoned Trevor the Toad wandlessly to prevent his escape, Hagrid raised his arms and as once the boats sprang forward and began their journey to the boathouse at Hogwarts.

'Steady now, don' want ya to be fallin' in now kids, mind yer heads and ye'll soon be seein' you're first sights of the castle!'

The group collectively gasped as they saw the magnificent castle lit up on the hillside, standing imposingly tall yet filling Holly with a sense of comfort and familiarity. Even after all these years she found herself thinking of Hogwarts as her first true home.

As the boats pulled up to the stone jetty, Holly began to feel the cold and pulled her cloak tighter around her, thanking whoever was listening that she had at least thought to hastily cast warming enchantments on her new school uniform, so she didn't have to suffer the full effects of the sure to be freezing cold wind. Just because she had to wear a skirt did not mean she had to freeze thank you!

The group of first years were led by Hagrid up multiple sets of stone stairs, that Holly was pretty sure were never this long, before being led to a high door, leading to the castle within.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there, her face set in stone as she took in the sight of the first years.

'The firs' years, Professor McGonagall,' said Hagrid.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.' she replied, lips thinned.

She pulled the door wide and Holly was finally able to once again take in the full beauty that lay within Hogwarts. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Grimmauld Place within it, the stone walls lit with flaming torches just as she remembered from her childhood the first time around, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to what Holly knew as the entrance of the grand staircase.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Holly could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school were already here and sat waiting- but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.' she paused for a moment.  
'The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.'  
'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.' Her eyes lingered for a moment on the group, as if looking for somebody she could not see, before she once again began to speak.

'I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly' and with that she turned on her heel and left the hall.

Moments passed as the first years were suddenly filled with dread, nearly all worried about what exactly the other students were expecting them to do once they entered the hall. Suddenly the quiet murmuring was replaced by an all too familiar, if no longer friendly to Holly, voice.

'What the -?'

She gasped, having to stop herself reaching for her wand after the sudden noise shocked her. So did the people around her, albeit for a different reason. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing.

What looked like a fat little monk was saying: 'Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -'

'My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?' A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

'New students!' said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. 'About to be Sorted, I suppose?'

A few people nodded mutely.

'Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!' said the Friar. 'My old house, you know.'

'Move along now,' said a sharp voice. 'The Sorting Ceremony's about to start.' Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

'Now, form a line,' Professor McGonagall told the first years, 'and follow me.'

Feeling oddly as though her legs had turned to lead, Holly got into line behind a boy with sandy hair whose name she could not recall, she realised that what if they had made a mistake. What if the hat refused to sort her because she had already been sorted, what if her Occlumency wasn't strong enough and either Snape or Dumbledore managed to see into her thoughts. That would just really make her day.

As she was thinking and overthinking this in her mind, the line of first years was brought once again into the entrance hall, before being filed through the golden double doors into the Great Hall.

Holly once again found herself in awe, as the image in front of her more than lived up to the memories she had of her first time being led into the hall. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Holly couldn't help but look upward where she saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

She heard Hermione whisper, 'Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History.' and couldn't help thinking to herself how glad she was that even with friends, Hermione hadn't changed a bit.

Holly quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!'

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Abbott, Hannah!'

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause -  
'HUFFLEPUFF!' shouted the hat.  
The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Holly saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.  
'Bones, Susan!'  
'HUFFLEPUFF!' shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.  
'Boot, Terry!'  
'RAVENCLAW!'  
The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.  
' Brocklehurst, Mandy' went to Ravenclaw too, but 'Brown, Lavender' became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Holly could hear the Weasley Twin's catcalling over the house of the brave's cheers.  
'Bulstrode, Millicent' then became a Slytherin.  
'Finch-Fletchley, Justin!'  
'HUFFLEPUFF!'  
Sometimes, Holly noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. 'Finnigan, Seamus,' the sandy-haired boy next to Holly in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

'Ah!' thought Holly 'I knew I recognised him, never really saw him after the fall of Hogwarts, wonder what happened to him?' as she was thinking this, the sorting had continued and she was soon broken from her thoughts by a shout of;

'Granger, Hermione!'  
Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.  
'RAVENCLAW!' shouted the hat.

Holly paused, not sure what to make of the fact that her friend had been sorted into a different house than before,

When Neville Longbottom was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, 'GRYFFINDOR,' Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to 'MacDougal, Morag.'

Even after making friends with Holly, Hermione and Neville Malfoy still swaggered forward when his name was called, however rather than immediately calling out his house as it had done in her memories, the hat seemed to be struggling with itself before finally calling out 'SLYTHERIN'

Malfoy went to join the table and sat down next to an elder Slytherin that Holly did not recognise.

There weren't many people left now. 'Moon' 'Nott' 'Parkinson' then a pair of twin girls, 'Patil' and 'Patil' then 'Perks, Sally-Anne' and then, at last - 'Potter, Holly!'

Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to reveal herself, Holly stepped forward and strode purposefully towards the stool, reinforcing her mental shields and letting her metamorphosis drop as she walked allowing her natural red hair to return and her eyes to shift back to their natural violet shade.

'Potter, did she say?'

The Holly Potter?'

The last thing Holly saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at her. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. She waited.

'Hmm,' said a small voice in her ear. 'Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?'

Holly couldn't help herself sagging in relief, the hat couldn't see through the shields she had put in place.

'Not sure where you belong either, eh?' said the small voice. 'Are you sure? Not a single house takes your favour more than any other?'

'Put me in Ravenclaw, with my friend' she thought, almost pleaded

'Well, I'm sure you will do as well there as any other, if you're sure... RAVENCLAW'

Holly heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. She took off the hat and walked toward the Ravenclaw table. She was so relieved to have not been detected, she hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. One of the prefects got up and guided her to the empty seats with the other first years, and Holly took the seat next to Hermione.

She could see the High Table properly now, and there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Holly recognized him at once, like she could ever forget what one of the biggest influences on her life could look like. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Holly spotted Quirell too, once again sporting the ridiculous turban she knew to house Lord Voldemort's shade.

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. 'Thomas, Dean,' joined Neville at the Gryffindor table.

'Turpin, Lisa,' became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Holly could only feel hurt at the look of betrayal and anger on Ron's face as he looked over at her. Really, it was only his own fault she had not told him who she was, and she was all the better for it now she knew he was only looking for her to run back to Dumbledore with information. As Ron sat on the stool the hall watched on in anticipation for the meal to come, expecting this to be a quick sorting. However, the hat did not instantly shout Gryffindor as everyone thought it would, but instead seemed to once again struggle with itself, as it had done with Draco. Suddenly, and with a huff, the hat halfheartedly announced Ron as a 'GRYFFINDOR' and a shocked looking Ron made his way over to the Gryffindor table.

Finally, when 'Zabini, Blaise,' was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Holly looked down at her empty gold plate, only just realising how hungry she actually was. The food her and her friends had shared on the train seemed an age ago.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

'Welcome,' he said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

Holly couldn't help but shake her head at the old man's actions, she was still struggling to separate the man that stood before her, from the caring role model she had known in her past life. She could only hope that this one was different from hers, because she did not want to begin to question the friendships she had had before coming back in time. It was bad enough knowing this Dumbledore was trying to control her friendships, never mind that the one who she thought cared about her may have done so also.

Before she could think any more on that subject, food appeared on the table in front of her and she and Hermione began to eat.

At last,after everyone had eaten both their main meals and desserts, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

'Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.'

'First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.' Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. 'I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

He paused for a moment and glanced around at the students with a grave look on his face

'And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.'

This brought about a look of disbelief on the faces of the students, unable to comprehend that he had just come out and said that to a hall full of children and young adults. Before anybody could question it though, he quickly continued.

'And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!' cried Dumbledore. Holly noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed, seemed even they hated the blasted song.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

'Everyone pick their favorite tune,' said Dumbledore, 'and off we go!'

And the school bellowed:

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot.'

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.  
'Ah, music,' he said, wiping his eyes. 'A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!'

The students in the hall rose as one and began to make their way to their respective common rooms, the first year Ravenclaws being escorted by Penelope Clearwater, the fifth year female prefect, and a boy in his fifth year who's name Holly did not remember, Rob something she thought. She followed quietly behind with Hermione making sure to commit the route to memory, lest she find herself accidentally making her way to Gryffindor Tower one night when she isn't concentrating.

Eventually the group were led to the base of Ravenclaw Tower, where a single door awaited them, a door with no handle and only a single knocker in the shape of an eagle. Once everyone was surrounding the knocker, Penelope moved to the knocker and everyone was shocked at the voice that seemingly came from nowhere.

'What has four legs in the morning, two at noon and three in the evening?' asked the voice.

'Okay guys, here's the fun part. Unlike the other common rooms, Ravenclaw tower doesn't use a password. Instead you have to answer a riddle that will progressively get harder as you go through the school. It is part of the magic that the knocker knows the skill level for the riddle it gives you, so whilst it is there to test your logic skills it should not be a barrier to any of you. Obviously since that may seem a simple method to bypass our common room's protections, there are also wards on the doorway preventing anybody with questionable intent from receiving an answerable riddle. Anyway, does anybody here know the answer?'

She was met by the sound of silence and shuffling feet in return, before with a huff Hermione put her hand up.

'Sure, Hermione was it?'

'Yes, and the answer is man, or woman if that's your preference.'

'Well done! Nice to see logic is still present even in the newest of our group' replied Penelope with a smile, before turning back to the knocker. The knocker, upon hearing the correct answer, moved out of the way opening up the doorway behind.

The group of first years were brought into the light, airy common room of the tower and asked to sit down to be addressed by the Prefects before they went to bed.

'Okay gang!' started the fifth year prefect 'My name is Robert, and I'm one of the fifth year prefects, along with Penelope over here, my job is to help you guys out as much as we can, whether that's with things you're struggling with in class or any issues you have with any other students. You can always come and speak to one of us and we'll be glad to help.'

'That's right!' added Penelope 'Now that that's out of the way, a slightly more fun announcement. You may have heard that Ravenclaw is the house of knowledge, and this is something we pride ourselves on. As to that, we have a private library in the tower available for you to use that may hold more useful tomes for your studies than those held in the general school library. The only rules with the books within, are that one; you do not take them from the tower, they are donations to Ravenclaw house by previous alumni and are something not all houses receive. Secondly, the books have been categorised primarily by skill level required, and you are not to attempt anything you read in the books above your year level, without supervision from a teacher, or a prefect that is in the year above the level you are reading. So basically anything in first year is fine, anything in second to fourth year come to us, fifth year go to the sixth year prefect and sixth go to seventh. Nice easy system we use, but note that it is a privilege that can be taken away if your actions are deemed to require punishment, okay?'

The group nodded, Holly could almost feel Hermione vibrating in anticipation at investigating this new treasure trove of information, and she even had to admit to herself that she too was curious as to what new details she may find inside.

'Okay then, dormitories are up the stairs, as first years your rooms are on the first landing you come to. Girls are up the left stairs, boys up the right. Please note, that as a precautionary measure the stairs are enchanted so that boys cannot enter the girls dormitories. Please do not attempt this, as you will quickly find yourself back at the bottom of the stairs once more, in a highly compromising position. On that note, I think it's best you all head to bed, you have a free day tomorrow to try and find your way around the castle. Those that would prefer a tour, the prefects will be leading those and be pointing out various areas that will be useful to know. Finally, a quick note, all first years are to be back in their common rooms by 7pm sharp, and in their dormitories by 9. Breakfast is served in the Great Hall from 7 onwards, and your first classes of the day start at 9. Now, off to bed with you!'

The group of first year split off into their respective dormitories, Holly pausing slightly at the foot of the stairs, scared it would not detect her as a girl since her mind was not originally. Stepping up, she was relieved as nothing happened and made her way into her new room. Finding the layout to be similar to that of the Gryffindor dorm she was used to, she made her way over to the bed her trunk was sat on the foot of, and quickly changed into a pair of comfortable pyjamas.

Laying down in bed, she thought to herself how she should probably give her family a call on the mirror, however as soon as her head hit the pillow, her eyes drifted shut and she knew nothing but the deep embrace of sleep.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me; anything you don't recognise is mine, and anything you do, isn't.**

Holly awoke the next morning to an irritating buzzing sound coming from near her head. Groggily shuffling her arm around, she finally found the offensive object to see Tonks' face staring back at her. Blinking a couple of times, she then dropped the mirror in shock, swearing quietly as she did so.

Snapping her fingers, she erected a silencing charm around her so as not to wake up the rest of her roommates, and with a thought quickly made her appearance more presentable. Checking her work over in the mirror, that had now stopped buzzing, she stated Tonks name and waited for her to pick up:

'Holly, there you are! We've been trying to get in touch with you all morning; what time do you call this?!' Tonks exclaimed with a grin 'Your parents have been worried sick!' she finished with a wink.

'Sorry Tonks, I must have been real tired last night, I was unconscious before my head hit the pillow' Holly laughed 'I'm sure they're not that worried, the castle is still standing after all. So how are you?'

At this moment Tonks face disappeared from the mirror, to be replaced by Sirius 'Hey! It's my turn to see Holly, hi Holly!' Sirius waved, before being pushed aside once more and being replaced by Tonks with a disgruntled 'Use your own mirror you moron!'

Moments later Holly's mirror once again buzzed, when suddenly she could see the faces of all of her new family. Grinning madly, Holly obliged with their wishes and went into overdrive telling them about the previous day, stopping only when she got to the sorting feast.  
'So then Prongslette, pray tell which house you are in? Please tell me it wasn't Slytherin?' Sirius pleaded jokingly.

'Knock it off Padfoot!' chastised Lily 'She knows we don't care where she ended up as long as she's happy... Although we would like to know?'

'Chill out everybody, no Padfoot I'm not in Slytherin, do these look like dungeon walls to you? Both Hermione and I were sorted into Ravenclaw, thank you very much'

'Yes!' exclaimed Tonks 'Sirius you owe me 5 Galleons!'

Lily shook her head at this in despair, 'Honestly you two'

James took this opportunity to speak up, having been fairly quiet so far 'As long as you're happy sweetheart, right then, I think we've kept you long enough, why don't you get up and go exploring with Hermione and see if you make any new friends?'

'Dad!' laughed Holly 'Actually, that sounds like fun, speak to you soon, love you guys!'

At their reply, Holly disconnected the call and cancelled her silencing charm with a flick of her wrist. Standing up, she quickly headed into the bathroom and jumped into the shower, welcoming the feeling of the hot water on her skin washing away the last of her drowsiness. Leaving the bathroom a short while later fully dried and dressed, she was shocked to find the clock on the wall only reading 07:15. Shaking her head in exasperation at the actions of her family, calling so early in the morning indeed, she made her way back over to her trunk and pulled out one of her new robes, quickly donning it over her casual clothes and pulling on a pair of shoes. Finally she stood up, and tied her hair back into a loose bun, holding it in place with her wand as she was now used to doing.

Just as she turned from her mirror, she was met with the sight of an excited Hermione Granger emerging from the bathroom, hair still dripping from the shower she had just left. Seeing her struggle with her towel to dry it, she went over and showed her the spell to dry and straighten hair quickly. Hermione could barely contain her glee at the ease she was able to replicate Holly's spell, instantly committing it to memory to save time in future, as well as to minimise the mess she knew her hair could end up being.

Once ready, the two girls headed down the dorm stairs together into the common room, casually glancing at the notice board as they made their way out of the tower and down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Holly found herself glad for the early hour as they went, as even at this time she found there was more than enough people staring at her as she passed - she had decided to forego using her powers openly to conceal her identity, lest somebody realise her trick the previous night was not a simple glamour but something much more useful. Arriving at the hall a few minutes later the two girls made their way over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down, plates magically appearing in front of them as they began to grab their food.

Finishing quickly so as to avoid the crowd of eyes sure to be fixated on her, Holly pulled Hermione up from the table as soon as they had both finished and dragged her out of the doors of the hall, and through the main entrance to the castle.

'Right, now we've eaten I say it's time we go exploring!' Holly explained with a mischievous grin, pulling her friend through the courtyard and down into the grounds.

* * *

The duo spent the majority of the day exploring Hogwarts in a state of wonder - Hermione at all of the new places she got to experience, and Holly at realising just how little of the castle she actually explored in her previous lifetime. After returning for lunch they were acompanied by Draco Malfoy, much to the glares of one Ronald Weasley - this was a pleasant surprise to Holly for Draco to voluntarily accompany them despite knowing of Hermione's parentage.

It was during their exploration of the castle that the reason for Draco's change in behaviour became apparent; once the trio eventually made their way into the library Hermione quickly scuttled off into the shelves after they had secured themselves a table to sit and rest at.

She returned minutes later with a small (For Hermione) pile of books which she quickly dropped on the table before plonking herself down on the available chair between Holly and Draco.

Glancing over the books Hermione had selected, Draco couldn't help but tut to himself, something that was picked up on by the young witch. 'Problem with my book choice, _Draco_?' she asked, in a sickly sweet manor that made Holly internally cringe.

'Yes, actually' he replied, rebelliously 'One of those you've chosen on the basics of magic is a load of rubbish - although I do think that's something you would have picked up on once you started reading it. You would be much better off starting with one of the basics in the Gerard Bagshot series'

Holly raised her eyebrows at this recommendation, and when Hermione had glanced through the book and mumbled her agreeance with Draco, tottering back into the maze of shelves, Holly turned to Draco to speak her thought out loud; 'Now why, I wonder, would a Malfoy like you a) read and accept the truth in a book by Herr Grindelwald, and b) recommend that book to a Muggleborn student?'

Draco smirked 'I don't think I should even be surprised you know who really wrote those books, but to answer your question my mother made me read them cover to cover, in the original German, during my studies before school. She decided I should receive a broader understanding of how magic works than the simplified blood focus my father agreed with.'

Holly nodded slowly, seeing how the knowledge in those books would open Draco's eyes to the flaws in the blood purity argument. 'Yes, well, I was living with my Godfather the last few weeks of summer. He thought they would give me a good grounding in magical theory, as well as give me incentive to learn a foreign language. He too found himself siding more with Grindelwalds views than those of his parents - ironic that they were so heavily entrenched in the ideals of blood purity, considering that Arcturus and Pollux Black were huge supporters of Grindelwald's cause - Magic is Magic after all'

'Yes, quite' agreed Draco, just as Hermione returned in a huff after not being able to find a single book by 'Gerard Bagshot'. Draco chuckled for a moment, before promising to request translated copies from his mother for her. Satisfied with this, Hermione sat back in her seat, opening one of the other books she had selected to a page on wand motions and began tracing the motions carefully with a pencil.

Rolling his eyes, Draco pulled out a pack of cards and set about dealing them between himself and Holly for a game of cards.

The trio remained in the library until dinner, Hermione eventually giving up on her reading and joining in with the pair for a few last rounds of cards before they all made their way back to the Great Hall.

As they made their way to their respective tables, Holly couldn't help but glance over to her old friends at the Gryfindor table. She saw all but one of them sat laughing together at a joke made by one of the Weasley twins, however what stood out was one red head who was not joining in the fun but was instead sat glaring directly at her. As her eyes made contact with Ron's she couldn't help herself, and her mind quickly and quietly slipped into his for a brief second. Over in a flash, she continued her passage to an empty seat at the Ravenclaw table, puzzled by what she had found.

Where she had been expecting anger, or hatred from the hot headed Weasley she found only sadness, jealousy and disappointment. It would appear that he had realised his outburst on the train had been a mistake, and that he wanted to apologise but was too proud, and too annoyed at being deceived by her disguise to do so. She couldn't help but wonder if this unexpected discovery was because she truly didn't know Ron in her timeline, or if the Ron of this timeline was simply less of a hot headed person.

Resolving to give him a second chance at meeting her when they next had a lesson together, Holly turned her concentration back to the table in front of her and joined the discussion around her between a mixture of second and third years regarding the usefulness and practical applications of basic transfiguration: whilst Holly was by no means a book worm, in her years on the defensive from Voldemort she had learned the hard way how her gaps in basic knowledge could really screw her over. She had also found that once she had grasped the full basics of magic, she had a talent for manipulating spells to the effects she wanted even if she did not know the actual spell to achieve her goal - survival and practicality being more important than spell perfection.

After dinner, Holly followed the rest of her house up the staircase back to Ravenclaw tower, stopping to say goodbye to the girls she had spoken to at dinner, she dumped her bag and robes on her bed, carefully placed her wand on her sidetable and made her way into the bathroom for a quick shower before bed.

Returning to the bedroom a few minutes later, she wandlessly dried herself off and switched her towel for a pair of clean pyjamas when she heard a muffled gasp from behind her. Snatching up her wand she span around, a curse on her lips, before pausing at the sight of Hermione staring at the wand now pointed at her heart.

'Sorry Hermione' apologised Holly, replacing her wand on the nightstand 'You made me jump!'

'I made YOU jump?' Hermione exclaimed back 'I walk in here to watch you perform not one, but TWO wandless, wordless spells; then when I gasp in shock, I find my best friend pointing a glowing wand at me?'

Holly smiled slightly at the best friend comment, before focusing on the more important aspect of what Hermione said: 'You're right, I'm sorry, it was a knee jerk reaction from the training my godfather put me through over this summer; he wanted me to be ready for anybody who may hold a grudge from when I was a baby, besides I'm only 11 what could I have done, cast a tickling charm at you?' she finished with a little white lie.

'Hmm, I suppose so...' began Hermione 'But that does not explain the other spells you cast?'

'Astute as always Hermione' replied Holly, abashed 'They're a couple of the basic spells my godfather and his niece had me practice over the summer, they wouldn't rest until I could at least cast them all without direct contact with my wand. Again, part of the safety measures he wanted for me... and before you ask, the drying wandlessly was something his niece taught me so I could reduce the chance of me being hindered by being soaked through, and the switching spell was taught to me by Sirius so that I would be able to remove and physical binds that might be put on me.'

Hermione nodded her head slowly, seemingly accepting Holly's on the spot lies, however she soon sported a slightly obsessive grin. 'You know you have to teach me how to do that too right?'

Holly sighed, knowing that teaching her at least one of the spells would be a lesser evil than not doing so - besides, knowing how hard it was for most people to perform wandless magic it should preoccupy Hermione for a considerable time, she reasoned.

'Fine, but we're starting with the drying spell - switching spells are more advanced so I'm not teaching you that until you can cast that wanded.'

Hermione harrumphed, but nodded her assent.

'Okay, so grab your wand and close your eyes. What I want you to do, is cast the drying charm on yourself, and focus on the pull it has on your magic. Go.'

Hermione performed the action as instructed, however once she had cast the spell she frowned slightly before casting the spell again. Holly couldn't help the grin that lit her face - her hope of Hermione not being able to intrinsically feel her magic had been realised, ergo making her life that much simpler.

'Okay,' she began after Hermione attempted a few more times 'That clearly isn't working, so we're going to try something else. Go get ready for bed, and once you're in bed I want you to sit and close your eyes. You're going to meditate, if you know how, and focus on the feelings in your body. I want you to distance yourself from conscious thought until you are only focused on the feeling of your breathing, and the light thud of your heart beat. Don't be disappointed if you don't manage it tonight, this may take a few nights for you to get down. Once you're at the stage where you can focus at will, we will move on to the next step - unfortunately there aren't any real short cuts to doing this.'

Hermione looked down for a moment, before once again meeting Holly's gaze with a determined look.

'Oh' Holly added 'Don't let on to anybody about what you're doing or learning, not everybody is capable of learning this branch of magic, and not everybody who can learn it, should.'

'Of course,' replied Hermione 'It'll be our secret project!'

* * *

The next morning signalled the start of classes for the students, with each head of house distributing out the timetables at breakfast. Holly glanced at hers, quickly committing it to memory, and was surprised to find just how many classes Ravenclaw shared with the Slytherins. It seemed to her that the only classes she had with the other houses were potions with Hufflepuff and charms with Gryffindor - every other class was shared with the serpent house.

It seemed as though once she had received her timetable, Hermione managed to make the rest of her plate disappear and had soon grabbed her friend by the arm and was dragging Holly along to where they had found the transfiguration classroom to be. They were only stood there for a few minutes before the rest of the class slowly started to appear, Draco giving the pair a smile when he saw them.  
The class stood waiting for the teacher to appear when the door swung open in front of them, and they all made their way in and found seats - Holly dragging Hermione away from the front of the class and to a desk nearer the back so she could survey the room better. As luck would have it, they were joined at the desk by Draco and one Daphne Greengrass - the daughter of a friend of Narcissa Malfoy.

The class were sat quietly making small talk when a cat wandered into the room, and perched itself on the desk at the front of the class. Smiling internally, Holly remembered instantly what McGonagall was going to do, having been subjected to the same trick when she was originally a first year and was late with Ron.

Just after the clock chimed 9, Holly couldn't help but snigger at the sight of Crabbe and Goyle stumbling into the room late, Goyle chuckling at his luck at the teacher not being there yet, to which Crabbe replied that he regretted not taking longer at breakfast. However before they could continue their discussion they were interrupted by the cat leaping forward from the desk and transforming back into their professor - a feat that managed to shock most of the class into silence, although Holly was semi-surprised to notice that Draco and Daphne were less surprised, though both were clearly impressed by the magic.

Professor McGonagall proceeded to berate the boys for their tardiness, with a lot less humour than Holly remembered, and set to lecturing the class on the danger of transfiguration if not performed carefully. Following this she flowed seamlessly into a rough outline of what they were going to cover during their first term, and set about dictating notes on transfiguring matchsticks into needles.  
Once she was satisfied she had covered the subject sufficiently, she waved her wand and banished three matches to every student, requested they attempt to perform the transfiguration themselves. She then set about the room, correcting pronunciations and technique as she went.

Holly sat back in her seat and examined the class around her attempting what would be, for most of them, their first spell; the three students sat around her were all focusing solely on their matches, muttering the spell and waving their wands in the described motions. She couldn't help but let a small smile grace her lips at the frown on Hermione's face as she perfectly emulated the wand motion described and enunciated her spell correctly and yet still failed to correctly cast the spell. Taking pity on her friend, she leaned and whispered:

'Relax, Hermione, focus less on what you're doing and try and concentrate on what you want the needle to do. Transfiguration, really magic in general, is all about intent; you can correctly cast that spell a hundred times and never achieve a single transfiguration, yet at the same time somebody else in the class could transfigure it right away with the wrong wand motion and less than perfect pronunciation and emphasis. Magic is all about three principles; Intent, Power and Focus; Power is self explanatory, a fully trained wizard would find it much easier to cast this spell than you for instance; next is intent - like I said, you can't cast a spell if you don't actually _want_ to cast it. Finally there's focus - not mental focus, but rather the focus you use to cast the spell - the more foci you utilise to cast a spell, the less power and intent you need to achieve it. In this instance the foci you're using are your wand, the wand motions and the incantation - you can theoretically cast a spell using no foci, it would just require an abundance of power and intent to do so. Don't worry, the Bagshot books go into it in a lot more detail, and it'll make more sense once you've had chance to read them and process the information; speaking of which, Draco have you sent for them yet?' she finished turning to Draco

He feigned looking up from his matchstick, when Holly fully knew he and Daphne both had been listening in to her mini-lecture, and replied 'Yes, I sent a letter to Mother last night, she sent word this morning she is sourcing the translations today and they should be with you tomorrow Hermione.'  
Behind Draco, Daphne Greengrass was struggling to keep her face passive - a Malfoy willingly helping a Muggleborn student, and sourcing an extremely rare collection of books at that? She couldn't help the shock that briefly passed over her face, before her natural, neutral look reappeared and she decided maybe she should reconsider her opinions of the trio sharing a desk with her.

Whilst this was going on, McGonagall had continued her trek around the classroom, pausing when she came into earshot of Holly's explanation. With a thoughtful look she made a mental note to speak to the young Raven after the class - she knew of only a few sources who summarised magic so succinctly and she couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride that the daughter of two of her favourite students was following in her mother's footsteps. Reaching the table, she gazed over the work of them in turn, nodding in praise at the progress of Daphne, Draco and Hermione before pausing before Holly - for she was the only one of the four who had made no progress with the transfiguration, something that confused the professor after hearing her explanation.

'Miss Potter,' she frowned 'Is there any reason you don't seem to have made any attempt to transfigure your matchstick?'

Holly grinned sheepishly, before replying 'Actually professor, I can cast the transfiguration, and it's counter, I can show you if you like?' she flashed a cheeky grin that made Minerva's heart stop for a moment, instantly reminded of the girl's father.

Nodding her assent, she was once again shocked as the young Potter flawlessly cast the transfiguration seemingly without effort. After she picked up the needle to check the transfiguration was complete, she replaced it on the desk and requested Holly counter the spell - something she once again completed flawlessly.  
Managing to hide her shock well, in her opinion, she nodded her appreciation of the spell work and continued her round of the class, leaving the four to continue speaking and perfecting their casting.

At the end of the class, Holly was not surprised to find herself being asked to stay behind. Shaking her head at her actions during the lesson, she could have at least _tried_ to mess the spell up slightly!

'Miss Potter, you may not have noticed but I overheard your little speech about the nature of magic and i was curious - where did you read about it being explained as such? I'm not aware of any first year books going into such detail as you did with Miss Granger.'

Holly swallowed hard before answering, thanking the gods that she had not named any of the books that contained such explanations - most of them were a darker shade of grey, if not outright classified as Dark by the Ministry.

'I couldn't tell you to be honest Professor, my Godfather gave me passages to read through as extra on top of my course books before I came to Hogwarts - he wouldn't tell me where they came from, only that it was important I understood magical theory before I tried blowing myself up with a spell I didn't fully understand.'

'Hmm..' replied Minerva, thinking for a second before continuing, 'Well it's good to see Lord Black has matured slightly since taking you in, do let him know I asked how he was doing won't you? And that my fireplace is always open if he wants somebody to talk to.'

'I will do Professor, thank you. Is there anything else I can do for you?' Holly mentally crossed her fingers, hoping she would not comment on the ease she accomplished her 'first' spell.

'No Miss Potter, that will be all. You'd best get yourself off to Lunch, a double lesson on Monday morning must have left you very hungry, I know it has myself' she laughed

'Okay professor, I'll see you later.' With that, she turned and left the room, making her way to the Great Hall for lunch. On the way there she was ambushed by Draco and Hermione, asking what McGonagall had wanted - the trio continued their walk to lunch as she explained what had happened.

* * *

 **A/N - Feels like forever since I've posted! Well, heres a little 4k chapter as an apology and a promise that I'll attempt to write and post again during my night shift tomorrow too! As usual, read and review, always happy to receive comments :)**


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